meridional

See also: méridional and meridionâl

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French meridional, from Latin merīdiōnālis, from merīdiēs (“noon; south”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪˈɹɪdɪənəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

meridional (not comparable)

1. located in the south, southern; later especially, often pertaining to the southern parts of Europe. [from 14th c.]
   • 1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture, […], London: […] Iohn Bill, →OCLC:

     Offices that require heat […] should be meridional.

   • 2021, Pablo A. Baisotti, A New Struggle for Independence in Modern Latin America, Routledge:

     For much of the 19th century what we now know as South America was called Meridional America

2. of or characteristic of southern areas or people, especially those in the southern parts of Europe [from 19th c.]
   • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 740:

     This, Constance recognised, may have had nothing to do with the situation – it was probably just a meridional convention – for in the Mediterranean countries nobody trusts his neighbour [...].

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 270:

     As soon as he heard the news of the trial and execution, he summed up the incident as a monument to Catholic intolerance, meridional superstition and judicial bigotry – and he decided to do something about it.

3. (astronomy, geography, meteorology) along a north–south direction, or relative to a meridian; or relating to meridians or a meridian [from 15th c.]

   Antonym: zonal

Derived terms

• meridional ray
• meridional wind

Translations

located in the south

• Finnish: eteläinen (fi)

of or characteristic of south

• Finnish: eteläinen (fi)

astronomy, geography, meteorology: along a north–south direction

• Finnish: pohjois–etelä-suuntainen, pituuspirin suuntainen
• Friulian: meridionâl
• Italian: meridionale (it)
• Polish: południkowy (pl) m
• Romanian: de meridian, meridional (ro)
• Russian: меридианный (ru) (meridiannyj)

See also

• longitudinal

Noun

meridional (plural meridionals)

1. an inhabitant of a southern region, especially the south of France

Anagrams

• mineraloid

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin merīdiōnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [mə.ɾi.ði.uˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [mə.ɾi.ði.oˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [me.ɾi.ði.oˈnal]

Adjective

meridional m or f (masculine and feminine plural meridionals)

1. southern

   Synonyms: del sud, austral

Noun

meridional m or f by sense (plural meridionals)

1. southerner

   Synonym: habitant del sud

Related terms

• meridià

See also

compass points: punts cardinals:  ^[edit]

nord-oest nord-occidental	nord septentrional	nord-est nord-oriental
oest occidental		est oriental
sud-oest sud-occidental	sud meridional	sud-est sud-oriental

Further reading

• “meridional” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “meridional”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “meridional” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “meridional” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meridjuˈnal/

Adjective

meridional

1. southern

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin merīdiōnālis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /me.ɾi.d͡ʒi.oˈnaw/ [me.ɾi.d͡ʒɪ.oˈnaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /me.ɾi.d͡ʒjoˈnaw/ [me.ɾi.d͡ʒjoˈnaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨ.ɾi.djuˈnal/ [mɨ.ɾi.ðjuˈnaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨ.ɾi.djuˈnal/ [mɨ.ɾi.ðjuˈnaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɨ.ɾi.djuˈna.li/ [mɨ.ɾi.ðjuˈna.li]

Adjective

meridional m or f (plural meridionais)

1. southern (located in or relating to the south)

   Synonyms: austral, sulista

Further reading

• “meridional” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French méridional, Latin merīdiōnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /me.ri.di.(j)oˈnal/

Adjective

meridional m or n (feminine singular meridională, masculine plural meridionali, feminine and neuter plural meridionale)

1. southern, meridional

   Synonyms: sudic, austral

   Antonyms: nordic, septentrional, boreal

Declension

Declension of meridional

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	meridional		meridională		meridionali	meridionale
	definite	meridionalul		meridionala		meridionalii	meridionalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	meridional		meridionale		meridionali	meridionale
	definite	meridionalului		meridionalei		meridionalilor	meridionalelor

Further reading

• “meridional”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin merīdiōnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meɾidjoˈnal/ [me.ɾi.ð̞joˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: me‧ri‧dio‧nal

Adjective

meridional m or f (masculine and feminine plural meridionales)

1. southern

   Synonyms: austral, sureño

   Antonyms: septentrional, norteño

Related terms

• occidental
• oriental
• septentrional, norteño
• sureño

Further reading

• “meridional”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Venetan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin merīdiōnālis. Compare Italian meridionale.

Adjective

meridional (feminine singular meridionala, masculine plural meridionali, feminine plural meridionale)

1. southern, south (attributive)

   Antonym: setentrional