septentrion means of or relating to the north; northern. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
Why “septentrion” is a great word
SEPTENTRION — [Adjective, Noun] Of or relating to the north; the north or northern regions. From Latin septentriōnēs, plural of septentriō, originally referring to the seven stars of Ursa Major, from septem ("seven") + triō ("plow ox"). Unlike "northern," a common directional workhorse, or "arctic," which specifies the polar realm, septentrion is a literary compass fixed by ancient stargazers. It is the silhouette of the Great Bear above a darkened pine forest, the chill in a stone chapel aligned to a celestial point, and the quiet pull felt by maps drawn before the magnetic pole was known—a north measured not by needle, but by seven oxen dragging a plow through the stars.
Etymology
From Middle English septentrion, septentrione, septemtryones, septemtrioun, from Latin septentriō, septentriōnem (“the northern regions, the north”) directly and through Old French septentrïon, septemtrion, from septentriōnēs (“the seven stars near the north pole”) (called Charles's Wain, or the Great Bear, also those called the Little Bear; properly, the “seven plow oxen”); from septem (“seven”) + triō, originally a plow ox (compare triōnēs, from its plural). Cognate with French septentrion, Middle English septemtrioun.
adj
- Of or relating to the north; northern.“From cold septentrion blaſts”
noun
- The north or northern regions.“Thou art as opposite to every good / As the Antipodes are unto us, / Or as the south to the septentrion.”