TGViewer
r/etymology r/etymology @r_etymology · 50 subscribers
Post #12810 2
Oriental, Occidental, and...?

We've all heard of the term "oriental" as an adjective in reference to from, or related to, "the east", most typically meaning east Asia. A joke in the dadjokes sub mentioned the word "Occidental", referring to of, or from, the west, typically meaning Europe and the Americas.

I wanted to know if there were comparable terms to refer to "the north" and "the south" (that weren't Arctic and Antarctic). There are.

The term "septentrional" means "of or from the north" and comes to us from Latin. The \*septen\* part refers to the seven stars of the constellation Ursa Major, one of its many nicknames being "the plough", which brings us the next part of the word from latin triones, meaning "plough oxen". (Many English speakers will know the word "plough" as "plow", which may bring its own squabbles).

For "of or from the south", the term "meridional" is derived from the Latin term meridiem meaning "midday"(the same term from which AM and PM are derived) as the sun would be in the southern portion of the sky at midday in the northern hemisphere. The term seems to have been most commonly used in reference to southern Europe.

(I posted the above text in r/words and received plenty of replies including Boreal and Austral, which are also cool words.)

https://redd.it/1wph3sq
@r_etymology
Reddit From the etymology community on Reddit Explore this post and more from the etymology community
More from @r_etymology
  1. Sep 25, 2026When and how did "like" come to mean "said"? For an example of what I am talking about her…
  2. Sep 25, 2026Guard and Ward: the same Germanic root, split by a French dialect, then reunited in Englis…
  3. Sep 25, 2026I think “Yen” is my favorite, just meaning “round object” lol https://redd.it/1wpc3oi @r_e…
  4. Sep 24, 2026What's the origin of the term "tatty talk"? There is the term "tatty talk", that seems to…
  5. Sep 24, 2026It won't be long, till I belong to you. Did the word belong (have) and the phrase be long…
  6. Sep 23, 2026Scouser from lobscouse, Kraut from sauerkraut, frogs… What are other demonyms derived from…
Threads Profile ViewerView any public Threads profile without an account.Open ThreadLook →Writing with AI? Make it sound human.Metric37 rewrites AI drafts so they read naturally. Free AI detector, 1,500 words free.Try Metric37 →