septentrional

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin septentriōnālis, from septentriōnēs (“seven plow oxen”), a name for the constellations now known as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, which appear in the northern sky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛpˈtɛntɹɪənəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

septentrional (comparative more septentrional, superlative most septentrional)

1. (rare, literary) Pertaining to the north; northern.
   • 1901, George Gissing, chapter 9, in By the Ionian Sea:

     Cow's milk could be obtained in very small quantities, but it was of evil flavour; butter, in the septentrional sense of the word, did not exist.

   • 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers:

     Well, no, we are all septentrional here, all a bit cool. What is mother? Genova and the Alto Adige. Coolest of them all.

Synonyms

• boreal
• northern

Antonyms

• austral
• meridional

Related terms

• occidental
• oriental

Translations

northern

• Catalan: septentrional (ca)
• Esperanto: norda
• Finnish: pohjoinen (fi)
• Polish: północny (pl)
• Spanish: septentrional (es)

Anagrams

• prosentential

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin septentriōnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [səp.tən.tɾi.uˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [səp.tən.tɾi.oˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [sep.ten.tɾi.oˈnal]

• Audio (Central):

  (file)

Adjective

septentrional m or f (masculine and feminine plural septentrionals)

1. northern

   Synonyms: del nord, boreal

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

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin septentriōnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛp.tɑ̃.tʁi.jɔ.nal/

• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

  (file)

• Homophones: septentrionale, septentrionales

Adjective

septentrional (feminine septentrionale, masculine plural septentrionaux, feminine plural septentrionales)

1. (dated) septentrional, boreal, northern (facing, situated in or related to the north)

   Synonym: boréal

   Coordinate term: méridional

   Near-synonym: nordique

Further reading

• “septentrional”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French septentrional, Latin septentriōnālis.

Adjective

septentrional m or n (feminine singular septentrională, masculine plural septentrionali, feminine/neuter plural septentrionale)

1. northern, septentrional

   Synonyms: nordic, boreal

   Antonyms: meridional, sudic, austral

Declension

Declension of septentrional

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	septentrional		septentrională	septentrionali	septentrionale
	definite	septentrionalul		septentrionala	septentrionalii	septentrionalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	septentrional		septentrionale	septentrionali	septentrionale
	definite	septentrionalului		septentrionalei	septentrionalilor	septentrionalelor

Related terms

• septentrion

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin septentriō

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin septentriōnālislbor.

Spanish septentrional

Learned borrowing from Latin septentriōnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sebtentɾjoˈnal/ [seβ̞.t̪ẽn̪.t̪ɾjoˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: sep‧ten‧trio‧nal

Adjective

septentrional m or f (masculine and feminine plural septentrionales)

1. northern

   Synonym: norteño

   Antonyms: meridional, sureño

Coordinate terms

• occidental
• oriental
• austral
• boreal
• norte

Further reading

• “septentrional”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025