southwest

• south-west (UK)
• sou'-west (nautical)
• SW (abbreviation)

From Middle English southwest, southewest, from Old English sūþwest and sūþanwestan, equivalent to south +‎ west. Cognate with West Frisian súdwest, Dutch zuidwest, German Südwesten, Danish sydvest, Swedish sydväst.

• IPA^(key): /saʊθˈwɛst/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (nautical, dialectal) IPA^(key): /saʊˈwɛst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛst

southwest (plural southwests)

1. The intercardinal compass point halfway between south and west; specifically at a bearing of 225°.

   Antonym: northeast

   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 40:

     So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

(compass points)

southwest (not generally comparable, comparative more southwest, superlative most southwest)

1. Of, in or pertaining to the southwest; southwestern.
2. Situated toward or in the direction of the southwest; southwestward; southwesterly.

   A southwest course.

3. Coming from the southwest; southwesterly.

   A southwest wind.

southwest (not generally comparable, comparative more southwest, superlative most southwest)

1. Towards or in the direction of the southwest; southwestwards.

   We are travelling southwest at the moment.