southing

Pluralsouthings

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The distance covered in a southward direction.

   The navigator logged a southing of thirty nautical miles by noon.

   Strong headwinds reduced the vessel's southing over the next watch.

   Oppositenorthing

   Note

   A navigator's measure that ignores the zigzags. What counts is how far south the ship has actually got: the difference in latitude between where it started and where it now is. It takes an article and a figure (a southing of thirty miles) and has a plural, southings, so a log can add several together. It is a distance, not a moment, which sets it apart from the moon's meridian crossing.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of south.

   The bright star was southing as the observatory dome slid open.

   Sailors marked the hour by the sun southing above the masthead.

   Note

   The -ing form of a verb many readers never meet. To south can mean to turn or veer southward, or to come to the meridian. Both meanings live in this one form, in the progressive (the star was southing) and as a gerund. In the celestial meaning the gerund shades into the moon's meridian moment, which is spelled identically but is a true noun with a plural.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   The moment at which the moon crosses the meridian, reaching its highest point due south.

   Astronomers recorded the moon's southing to predict the timing of the spring tides.

   Each evening the southing arrives roughly fifty minutes later than the night before.

   Similarculmination, transit

   Note

   Astronomy takes the verb south, meaning to cross the meridian, and turns the event into a noun. The moon's southing is the instant of transit, when the moon stands highest in the sky due south. It usually takes a possessive (the moon's southing). Because it names a time, one asks when it falls, not how far it goes.

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