Septentrional

Septentrional, meaning "of the north", is a Latinate adjective sometimes used in English. It is a form of the Latin noun ''septentriones'', which refers to the seven stars of the ''Plough'' (Big Dipper), occasionally called the ''Septentrion''.

In the 18th century, septentrional languages was a recognised term for the Germanic languages.

Etymology and background

The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives the etymology of ''septentrional'' as:

"Septentrional" is more or less synonymous with the term "boreal", derived from Boreas, a Greek god of the North Wind. The constellation Ursa Major, containing the Big Dipper, or Plough, dominates the skies of the North. The usual antonym for ''septentrional'' is the term '' meridional'', which refers to the noonday sun.

Usage

The term ''septentrional'' is found on maps, mostly those made before 1700. Early maps of North America often refer to the northern- and northwesternmost unexplored areas of the continent as at the "Septentrional" and as "America Septentrionalis", sometimes with slightly varying spellings.For example, the "Double Hemisphere" world map, by Moses Pitt, dated about 1680, labels North America as ''America Septentriona'', to identify the uncharted, northwest of North America. Sometimes abbreviated to "Sep.", it 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.

The linguistic usage in the 17th and 18th centuries was as an umbrella term. It described "the Germanic languages, usually with particular emphasis on Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse and Gothic." Writing of Johann Georg Keyßler in 1758, Thomas Gray distinguished between "Celtic" and "septentrional" antiquities. Thomas Percy actively criticised the blurring of the Celtic and the Germanic in the name of the "septentrional", while at the same time Ossianism favoured it. James Ingram in his inaugural lecture of 1807 called George Hickes "the first of septentrional scholars" for his pioneering lexicographical work on Anglo-Saxon. In current usage, "septentrional fiction" may refer to a setting in the Canadian North.

In France, the term septentrional refers to the Northern stretch of the Côtes du Rhône AOC winemaking region. The Northern Rhône, or septentrional, runs along the Rhône river from Vienne in the north, to Montélimar in the south. It includes the eight crus: Côte Rôtie, Condrieu, Château-Grillet, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Cornas and Saint-Péray.Huit Crus Celebres
/ref> The Southern Rhône is referred to as the meridional (''Rhône méridionale''), and extends from Montélimar in the north, to Avignon in the south.

See also

* Septentrionalist
*Oriental
* Occidental
* Boreal
* Austral
*'' Myotis septentrionalis'', the Northern Long-eared Bat

Notes

References

{{Reflist

Geography of the Arctic
Orientation (geometry)