Southerly describes something that relates to or comes from the south. When weather forecasters predict southerly winds, they mean winds blowing from the south toward the north. A ship traveling in a southerly direction is heading toward the south.

The word works differently depending on what it describes. Southerly winds blow from the south, but a southerly course means traveling toward the south. This can feel confusing at first, but remember: wind directions describe where the wind comes from (because that's what matters for weather and sailing), while travel directions describe where you're going.

You might hear that a storm is taking a southerly track across the country, meaning it's moving toward the south. Or a hiker might choose the most southerly trail, meaning the one farthest to the south. In geography, the more southerly of two cities is the one closer to the South Pole, just as the more northerly one is closer to the North Pole.