Toward or in the south direction; a archaic or poetic form meaning southward.
From Old English 'a-' (direction prefix) + 'south' (cardinal direction). The 'a-' prefix was commonly used in Middle English to indicate motion or direction, similar to how 'aboard' means 'on a board.'
This word shows how English used to be much more flexible with directional prefixes—we've lost most of these 'a-' direction words, keeping only a few like 'ashore' and 'aboard.' It's a linguistic fossil of how our ancestors moved through the landscape with precise verbal directions.
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