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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 aurora borealis has a counterpart, the aurora australis, or southern lights, which is the same phenomenon in the southern hemisphere.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 12 May 2024
During the May 5 to 6 peak, stargazers can expect to see around 50 shooting stars in the southern hemisphere, where the shower is most visible.
—Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 3 May 2024
Finally, the moon phase display at 6 o’clock shows the position of the moon in the northern and southern hemispheres.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 13 Mar. 2024
In the last solar cycle, for example, the polarity of the sun’s northern hemisphere started to reverse in early June 2012 and then wavered around the neutral point until late 2014, even though the southern hemisphere transitioned smoothly to the opposite polarity in mid-2013.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2023
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
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 28 May. 2024.
Kids Definition
southern hemisphere
nounoften capitalized S&H
: the half of the earth that lies south of the equator
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