Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “southwest” come from?

Southwest derives from Old English sūþwest, a compound of sūþ (south) and west (west).

southwest (English): The compass point halfway between south and west,...

Definitions

  1. The compass point halfway between south and west,...

Ancestry of “southwest”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishWest—
2Middle Englishwestwest; A location to the south; the south; The...
3Old Englishwestwest
4Proto-West Germanic*westr—
5Proto-Germanicwestrąwest; west, westward
6Proto-Germanicwestrazwest, western
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwek(ʷ)sperosevening
8Proto-Indo-Europeanwe-—

Words derived from “southwest”

  • southwestward
  • sou'wester
  • southwester
  • southwestwards
  • southwestwardly
  • sou'westered
Every word from Proto-Indo-European we- →