due south
8
2.3
- noun
:
sur verdadero
- To reach the beach, you need to walk due south for about a mile.
- miles due south
- degrees due south
- almost due south
Examples
-
It's due south of here.
-
At this point, you just head due south, and before you know it, you're at the unnamed pond.
Blog text (20) -
Take a course due south.
-
And they headed due south.
-
Maybe five, six hundred kilometers due south.
-
Guam's due south of us, sir.
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I am about 5,000 miles due south of New York.
Blog text (34) -
From the intelligence summary, he knew there was another footpath due south of the one he had come in on.
Fiction book (2001) -
Edgar's heading due south to Grant and Clark.
-
Dn Ailinne, last of the royal sites, is some 40 miles due south of Tara.
Academic text (2011)
Synonyms
235
1.0
The direction toward the bottom of a map
69
1.0
In the direction of the south
2
1.9
The direction on a compass that is opposite north
1
2.1
Toward the south
1
1.0
The direction toward the south on a compass
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'directly south' is transparently built from 'due' meaning 'exactly' and 'south' as the compass point, so a learner who knows both words can infer the MWE's meaning. The pattern 'due + direction' is a regular compositional construction (e.g. 'due north', 'due east') and has clear parallels in many languages, supporting immediate comprehension at B1.
Etymology
Due south comes from old maps and compasses, where due meant 'straight' or 'exactly' and south is the compass point. That picture of a straight line to south is why due south means 'directly south'.