Septentrional

Septentrional

Septentrional is a word that means "of the north", rarely used in English but commonly used in French. Early maps of North America, mostly those before 1700, often refer to the northern- or northwestern-most unexplored areas of the continent at "Septentrional" or "America Septentrionalis", sometimes with slightly alternate spellings. The term "septentrional", actually the adjectival form of the noun "septentrion", itself refers to the seven stars of the "Big Dipper" asterism (aka "Septentrion").

The OED gives the etymology as: [ad. L. "septentrio", sing. of "septentriōnēs", orig. "septem triōnēs", the seven stars of the constellation of the Great Bear, f. "septem" seven + "triōnes", pl. of "trio" plough-ox. Cf. F. "septentrion".] "Septentrional" is a more or less interchangeable term with "boreal." Ursa Major, the constellation containing the Big Dipper or Plough, dominates the skies of the North. There doesn't appear to be a truly comparable term linking the regions of the South with some prominent feature of the Southern Sky. The usual antonym for "septentrional" is "meridional." This word, however, doesn't refer to a celestial feature in the South, but to the noonday sun.

"Septentrional" is one of the rare (in English) words which turned up in James Joyce's "Ulysses", to titillate the verbophiles of the Literary World.

Gene Wolfe used the word in The Book of the New Sun as part of the name of a palace guard.
Voltaire used this word in Candide (chapter 11). He used the plural form septentrionaux. It only appears in the French version. In the English version, the word is translated to "northern".

The term, sometimes abbreviated to "Sep.", was used in historical astronomy to indicate the northern direction on the celestial globe, together with Meridional ("Mer.") for southern, Oriental ("Ori.") for eastern and Occidental ("Occ.") for western. [Hooke, Robert. 1666. Volume 1. "Philosophical Transactions"]

ee also

* Boreal ("Northern")
* meridional or austral ("Southern")
* occidental ("Western")
* oriental ("Eastern")
* Septentrionalist

Notes


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  • septentrional — SEPTENTRIONÁL, Ă, septentrionali, e,adj. Boreal, nordic. [pr.: tri o ] – Din fr. septentrional, lat. septentrionalis. Trimis de claudia, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  Septentrional ≠ austral, meridional, sudic Trimis de siveco, 03.08.2004. Sursa:… …   Dicționar Român

  • septentrional — septentrional, ale, aux [ sɛptɑ̃trijɔnal, o ] adj. • XIVe; lat. septentrionalis ♦ Didact. Du nord, situé au nord. L Europe septentrionale. ⇒ nordique. ⊗ CONTR. Méridional. ● septentrional, septentrionale, septentrionaux adjectif (latin… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • septentrional — adjetivo 1. Del norte: país septentrional, viento septentrional …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • septentrional — septentrional, ale (sè ptan tri o nal, na l ) adj. Qui est du côté du septentrion. Les peuples septentrionaux. •   Les contrées septentrionales du globe ont joui pendant longtemps du même degré de chaleur dont jouissent aujourd hui les terres… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • septentrional — Septentrional, [septentrion]ale. adj. Qui est du costé du Septentrion. L ocean Septentrional. les pays septentrionaux. la France est septentrionale à l esgard de l Espagne. la Suede est plus septentrionale que la France …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Septentrional — Septentrionāl (lat.), nördlich …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • septentrional — [sep ten′trē ə nəl] adj. 〚ME < L septentrionalis < septentriones, the seven stars of Ursa Major, lit., seven plowing oxen < septem, SEVEN + trio, plow ox < base of terere, to rub: see THROW〛 Rare northern; boreal * * * …   Universalium

  • septentrional — (Del lat. septentrionālis). 1. adj. Perteneciente o relativo al septentrión. 2. Del norte …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • septentrional — [sep ten′trē ə nəl] adj. [ME < L septentrionalis < septentriones, the seven stars of Ursa Major, lit., seven plowing oxen < septem, SEVEN + trio, plow ox < base of terere, to rub: see THROW] Rare northern; boreal …   English World dictionary

  • Septentrional — Sur les autres projets Wikimedia : « Septentrional », sur le Wiktionnaire (dictionnaire universel) Septentrional signale un rapport avec le terme septentrion, qui désigne également le « nord », le point cardinal. En effet …   Wikipédia en Français

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