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Glite Dictionary
Old South

Old South

7 8.0
A region of the southern United States before the Civil War known for plantations and slavery
  • noun
  • /oʊld saʊθ/
translation icon : Viejo Sur
  • Some of them are rooted in a nostalgia for the Old South that I can appreciate.
  • a building in the Old South
  • Religion in the Old South

Some of them are rooted in a nostalgia for the Old South that I can appreciate.

Examples

  • Much of the Old South had lacked manufacturing, although some forward-thinking men wanted that situation to change.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The house is a gorgeous example of the reserved refinement of the old South's wealth.

    Blog text (4)

  • The Old South is on the move, yet filled with warmth and grace.

    The Killer (2023)

  • Historians of the Old South generally focus on its central feature, slavery.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Tell your grandchildren how you watched the Old South disappear one night.

    Gone with the Wind (1939)

  • Poesch's Art of the Old South contributes to an understanding of the architectural environment.

    Academic text (1993)

  • "Where the Old South Still Lives" was the motto of Natchez during the height of the Pilgrimage days.

    Academic text (2017)

  • To these aging gentlemen, another part of the Old South seemed as irretrievably lost as courtly manners and virgin forests.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Everything about Farquhar represents the Old South: slavery, arrogance, gentility.

    Blog text (20)

  • Historians of the Old South generally focus on its central feature, slavery.

Synonyms

Deep South
vsOld South
  • US
15 4.4

A region in the southeastern United States with a long history and strong local culture

is the broader pre Civil War southern region linked to plantation society
Dixieland
vsOld South
7 7.5

The southern states of the United States that joined the Confederacy during the Civil War

means the same but is a different regional label or variant term
Dixie
vsOld South
8.1

The southern states of the United States that broke away during the Civil War

focuses on the earlier plantation society and its slavery rather than political secession

Surface Forms

Old South singular
Old Souths plural

Morphology

old + South

Knowing 'old' and 'South' lets a B1 learner infer a former or historical southern region, so the basic locative-temporal sense is accessible. However, the term denotes a specific historical era (antebellum southern U.S.) with connotations of plantation society and slavery that are not predictable from the words alone, so full meaning requires prior knowledge.

Etymology

Old South comes from the words old (meaning earlier) and south (the southern United States). People used it to talk about the region 'before the American Civil War', when large plantations and slavery shaped life, so today Old South means that historical time and its society.