west-south-westadj.n.adv.
/ˌwɛs(t)saʊ(θ)ˈwɛst/, U.S. /ˌwɛs(t)ˌsaʊ(θ)ˈwɛst/ A. adj.
1. Of a wind: blowing from the west-south-west.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > West > West-south-west > [adjective]
west-south-westa1398
west-south-west?c1475
west-south-westerly1816
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xi. iii. 574 Þe oþir hatte Zephirus, þe west souþwest wynde.
?c1475 in J. Gairdner Sailing Direct. (1889) 13 (MED) Yif..the wynde be west south west, ye must Rere at a North north est moone.
1572 J. Sadler tr. Vegetius Foure Bks. Martiall Policye i. xxxviii. f. 63 Unto this on the right syde is ioyned the West Northwest winde, on the left syde ye West Southwest winde.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Vent d'aval, a West South-west wind.
1663 G. Harvey Archelogia Philosophica Nova II. ii. xv. 363 A west Southwest wind is for the most part moist, damp, rainy, cloudy, and sometimes tempestuous.
1756 J. Armstrong Hist. Island Minorca (ed. 2) App. 256 The Romans called the West-South-West Wind Africus, from the Country from whence it blew.
1825 G. F. Lyon Brief Narr. Attempt to reach Repulse Bay 143 On the 9th with a strong west-south-west wind, we ran past the Start and Berry Head.
1903 R. B. Molineux Vice Admiral of Blue vi. 140 With a crash a west-southwest blast struck the Vanguard.
1993 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. A. 156 375 The north-north-east wind is..associated with lower wind speeds than the west-south-west winds.
2. Situated in or directed towards the west-south-west.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > West > West-south-west > [adjective]
west-south-westa1398
west-south-west?c1475
west-south-westerly1816
?c1475 in J. Gairdner Sailing Direct. (1889) 14 All the havens be full at a west south west moone.
a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) III. 10 An Hospital of S. John yet stonding at the West South West End of the Town.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iii. 123 The West South west end of this once Regall Towne.
1681 in H. W. Richardson York Deeds (Maine) (1888) III. f. 88 To runne backeward vpon a West South West lyne.
1708 Deed of Sale 20 Mar. in L. B. Chapman York Deeds (1892) VII. f. 101 Turns off upon a west Southwest line one hundred and Seventy Six poles unto a great hemlock tree.
1808 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. V. 335 The nearest land to it being Harris, from which it is distant sixty miles in a west-south-west direction.
1896 M. A. Vialls tr. L. Sinigaglia Climbing Reminisc. Dolomites 159 We..formed together the plan for achieving the ascent directly and entirely by the west-south-west face of the mountain.
1912 A. Seltzer & T. Seltzer tr. G. Hauptmann Atlantis i. xx. 77 He kept..his sea-blue eyes fastened upon the west-southwest line.
1993 W. A. McDougall Let Sea make Noise 631 He ordered the flight to proceed another thirty-five miles on a west-southwest course, then turn north‐west.
B. n.
The point of the horizon midway between west and south-west; the direction of this; (also) the compass point corresponding to this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > West > West-south-west > [noun]
west-south-westa1475
west-south-westwards1584
west-south-westward1589
a1475 (a1447) O. Bokenham Mappula Angliae in Englische Studien (1887) 10 15 Ermyngestrete..gothe fro the weste-sowthe-weste begynnynge at Meneuye or Seynt Dauid, and procedithe forþe yn to the sowþe-Est and endithe at porte Hamond.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. iii. f. 16v The shores bended..sumetyme towarde the Weste and westesouthwest.
1594 T. Lodge & R. Greene Looking Glasse sig. E Now the wind doth serue, And sweetly blowes a gale at West Southwest.
1670 S. Clarke True & Faithful Acct. Four Chiefest Plantations Eng. in Amer. 27 Of these Bermudus Islands there are many..; the greatest of them is about sixteen miles in length from the East North-East, to the West South-West.
1698 tr. L. Hennepin New Discov. in Amer. 325 We were inform'd, that..there was a River which runs into the Mississipi, and that we were to go directly to the West-South-West, to find it.
1742 J. Martyn & E. Chambers tr. Philos. Hist. & Mem. Royal Acad. Sci. Paris IV. 4 From hence M. Bigot sailed south-easterly to 4°—south lat..., from whence he always bore to the south-west, and west-south-west.
1796 W. Mavor Voy., Trav., & Discov. IV. 151 On first descrying the coast of Brasil, it appeared high and mountainous, stretching from west to west-south-west.
1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville I. iii. 61 One of these branches rises in the west south-west.
1839 H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall i. 8 On the west-south-west of the same district.
1915 H. G. de Walterstorff tr. S. Hedin With German Armies in West iv. 94 In the west-south-west we notice the bursting of six shells a couple of kilometres away.
1950 Pop. Mech. Jan. 93/1 Across a creek bottom to the north..were four parallel tracks reaching away to the west-southwest as far as we could see.
2006 T. A. Bell Spy 411 Radar showing four small drone aircraft approaching out of the west-southwest, sir.
C. adv.
1. In a west-south-westerly direction; towards the west-south-west; to the west-south-west of something (also with from).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > West > West-south-west > [adverb]
west-south-west?1440
west-south-west1513
west-south-westerly1797
west-south-westward1808
west-south-westwards1853
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii. l. 470 And west southwest [L. in fauonium] hem for to order best is.
?c1475 in J. Gairdner Sailing Direct. (1889) 11 It flowith west southwest.
1555 R. Eden Two Viages into Guinea in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 350v Gomera is a fayre Ilande and very ragged and lyeth west southwest of Teneriffa.
1584 R. Norman tr. C. Antoniszoon Safegard of Sailers f. 21v The floud sets east northeast, and the ebbe west southwest.
1622 R. Hawkins Observ. Voiage South Sea xxii. 52 We directed our course West South-west.
1698 tr. L. Hennepin New Discov. in Amer. i. 78 Steering our Course West-South-West, with a favourable Wind.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. viii. 162 We sailed Southward a long time, and coasting New-Holland kept our Course West-south west.
1760 R. Rogers Jrnls. (1769) 197 We..kept the following courses: west-south-west two miles, west-north-west three miles.
1845 J. Phillips & C. G. B. Daubeny Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. VI. 544/1 Less certain and continuous fissures passing nearly East North-East and West South-West.
1898 Independent (N.Y.) 3 Nov. 1233/1 Hawaii is about two thousand miles west south west from San Francisco.
1917 T. F. Hall Has North Pole been Discovered? i. vi. 171 He would have been marching west south west away from the Pole, in a presumed endeavor to find it.
1985 B. Small This Heart of Mine (1988) xiv. 481 Both rooms overlooked the gardens below and aview west-southwest over the mountains.
2007 P. P. Purpura Terrorism & Homeland Security 394 American [Flight] 77 was then 5 miles west-southwest of the Pentagon.
2. With reference to wind: from the west-south-west.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > West > West-south-west > [adverb]
west-south-west?1440
west-south-west1513
west-south-westerly1797
west-south-westward1808
west-south-westwards1853
1513 E. Howard Let. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. I. 214 On mondey the wynd cam west sowth west.
1622 J. Taylor Very Merry Wherry-Ferry Voy. sig. A3 Eolus blewe sweetly West Southwest.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. i. 5 This Storm..was followed by a strong Wind West South-west.
1889 All Year Round 5 Jan. 14/2 The wind was about west-south-west, and blew almost directly into the harbour's mouth.
1997 S. Butler East to Dawn (1999) 182 That Thursday..dawned clear and warm,..with a perfect wind for takeoff, west-southwest.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.adv.a1398