Coming from or moving toward the south; a direction between south and west or between south and east.
From Old English 'sūth' (south) combined with '-erly' (direction suffix). This Old English root likely comes from Proto-Germanic 'sunnōn,' possibly meaning 'to the sun' since south is toward the sun from northern latitudes.
The word 'southerly' is used by sailors and weather forecasters to be more specific than just 'south'—they can say a 'southerly wind' to mean it's coming from the south toward the north, which is the opposite of what a non-sailor might guess!
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