The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
NORTH
Definition of NORTH
noun
The direction towards the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east, specifically 0°, or (on another celestial object) the direction towards the pole lying on the northern side of the invariable plane.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English north, from Old English norþ, from Proto-West Germanic *norþr, from Proto-Germanic *nurþrą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nér (“below (the surface)”). The meaning developed either from "region where the sun is below (the earth)" or from "left side of someone who turns to the east when praying". Cognate with various Germanic counterparts such as Yola noardth, nordh (“north”), North Frisian noor, nord, nuurd, Nuurđ (“north”), Saterland Frisian Noude, Nudde (“north”), West Frisian noard (“north”), Dutch noord (“north”), German Nord (“north”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk nord (“north”), Faroese and Icelandic norður (“north”), Swedish nord, norr (“north”); also with Ancient Greek νέρτερος (nérteros), ἐνέρτερος (enérteros, “below”), Russian нора (nora, “hole”), Lithuanian nėrõvė (“mermaid, nymph”), Oscan 𐌍𐌄𐌓𐌕𐌓𐌀𐌊 (nertrak, “left”), Umbrian nertru (“left”), Sanskrit नरक (naraka, “hell”), Tocharian B ñor (“below”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (12,281)
How it is built
Same root, NORTH · 8 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Ancient Greek, Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Norwegian, Russian, Sanskrit, Swedish.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
NORTH in OUTLIER
It has fitted 1 board so far. 47 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 118, 15 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 60 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 24, 13 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
NORTH starts with N and ends with H. Sorted, its letters read HNORT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start NORTH
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found NORTH?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 118 - and most players walked straight past it.
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