Definition
In legal usage, particularly in the description of real property in deeds and grants, "north" means due north — that is, the exact cardinal direction along the true meridian, without deviation to either the east or west. Unless the instrument qualifies the term with additional directional language, courts will construe "north" as a precise bearing of 0°/360°, not as a general or approximate direction.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The direction toward the pole to the left-hand side of someone facing east; specifically 0°; also used informally to mean "up" or in the positive direction on a map or scale.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): One of the four cardinal points of the compass lying in the direction of the true meridian and to the left of a person facing east; the direction opposite to south; also used to designate regions or sections of a country situated farther toward that pole.
The common meaning of "north" is broad and intuitive — it captures a general direction and is routinely used loosely in conversation and navigation. The legal meaning in property descriptions is more exacting: "north" in a deed imposes a precise bearing. The distinction matters because imprecision in a conveyance can affect the location of a boundary line by a meaningful distance over long stretches of land.
Common Confusion
"North," "northerly," and "northwardly" are not interchangeable in legal instruments, though they are treated as synonyms in ordinary speech. Anderson's notes that "north" is not synonymous with "northerly" or "northwardly," while Bouvier's observes that "northerly," when used without any qualifying object directing its inclination east or west, must itself be construed to mean due north. In practice, courts have resolved these ambiguities by looking to whether surrounding language — monuments, adjoining tracts, or other calls in the description — provides controlling context. Where no such context exists, the presumption defaults to the cardinal direction. Researchers should not assume that variant forms carry distinct technical meanings across all jurisdictions or time periods; the case law is fact-specific.
Why It Matters in Research
This entry is narrowly significant to researchers working with historical deed descriptions, boundary disputes, and property conveyances. The interpretive rule — that an unqualified directional call in a deed means the exact cardinal direction — is a principle of deed construction, not merely a matter of geography. In historical land records, variation in terminology ("north," "northerly," "northwardly," "northly") was often the product of scrivener habit rather than intentional legal distinction, which created litigation over boundary lines.
Researchers using the Law Mind corpus in connection with colonial-era or early American conveyances should pay close attention to the full calls in a description. The precedence rules for resolving conflicting calls in a deed (monuments over courses and distances, for example) may override the strict cardinal-direction presumption. "North" as used in a deed description may ultimately be controlled by a monument call or an adjoining-owner reference that pulls the line off true north.
The cases cited in Bouvier's (1 Johns. 156; 96 Col. 505; 115 Mass. 578) reflect nineteenth-century American courts working through these interpretive questions. Researchers should treat these as illustrative of doctrine rather than universally binding, and should look for how the controlling jurisdiction's courts have applied the cardinal-direction presumption.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both Anderson's and Bouvier's converge on the core proposition: absent qualifying language, "north" in a deed means due north. Bouvier's states this directly and supports it with New York and Colorado authority. Anderson's approaches from the negative — "north" is not the same as "northerly" or "northwardly" — while simultaneously noting that "northly" and "northwardly" may themselves mean due north in appropriate context. The apparent tension between these treatments is not a true conflict. Both sources acknowledge that the meaning of directional terms in deeds is ultimately governed by context; the default rule is precision, but context can expand or redirect that meaning.
Neither source addresses magnetic north versus true north, a distinction that has become more practically significant as land records moved toward survey-based descriptions using magnetic declination. Historical sources are silent on GPS-era precision. Researchers working with pre-twentieth-century instruments should be alert to the fact that compass bearings in historical deeds may reflect magnetic north at the time of the survey, which can differ materially from true north depending on the era and location.
Jurisdictional Note
The cardinal-direction presumption in deed construction is widely recognized across American jurisdictions, but the weight given to it relative to other calls in the description varies. Some states apply a strict hierarchy of calls; others treat all calls as equally subject to the intent of the parties. Researchers should verify how the relevant jurisdiction ranks directional calls against monuments and other controlling references.