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southern hemisphere
noun
variants
or Southern Hemisphere
: the part of the earth that lies south of the equator
Examples of southern hemisphere in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The telescope picked up on the signature of water molecules in one of the largest craters in the moon’s southern hemisphere in 2020.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 16 Feb. 2024
Also called the March equinox, the spring equinox occurs when the northern and southern hemispheres neither tilt toward or away from the sun, the Old Farmer’s Almanac, a weather and gardening guide that’s been publishing since 1782, said on its website.
—Hanh Truong, Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024
Spring Equinox March 19 around 11 p.m. ET marks the start of spring in the northern hemisphere; the equinox also welcomes the coming of autumn in the southern hemisphere (here’s one of our favorite fall getaways down under).
—Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 1 Mar. 2024
Since Cape Town is in the southern hemisphere, summertime in the U.S. is wintertime for South Africans.
—Ramsey Qubein, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024
The Northern Lights are an astronomical phenomenon that are usually seen along the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres.
—Solcyre Burga, Time, 9 July 2023
In the southern hemisphere, Chile has been reeling from drought for the better part of a decade.
—Somini Sengupta, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2024
This shower is visible in the southern hemisphere, and generates a relatively low rate of meteors per hour: around six during the peak on Feb. 8, according to High Point Scientific.
—Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 1 Feb. 2024
On the spring equinox, the northern and southern hemispheres receive about the same amount of sunlight; after the equinox, the northern hemisphere transitions to spring and summer while the southern hemisphere goes into fall and winter.
—Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 23 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'southern hemisphere.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1652, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of southern hemisphere was
in 1652
Dictionary Entries Near southern hemisphere
Cite this Entry
“Southern hemisphere.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/southern%20hemisphere. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Kids Definition
southern hemisphere
nounoften capitalized S&H
: the half of the earth that lies south of the equator
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