east
/iːst/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.16 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The direction of the earth's rotation, specifically 90°.
noun
The eastern region or area; the inhabitants thereof.
noun
In a church: the direction of the altar and chancel; the direction faced by the priest when celebrating ad orientem.
adj
Of or pertaining to the east; eastern.
adj
From the East; oriental.
adj
Designating, or situated in, the liturgical east.
Example Sentences
- "Portsmouth is to the east of Southampton."
- "We live in the east of the country."
- "The sun rises in the east."
- "The levanter wind is in/from the east."
- "In a few hours the birds come to it from all points of the compass – east, west, north, and south […]"
- "We, in the west, agreed amongst ourselves that a penitentiary should be erected with our half of the money arising as above stated; and the east agreed to improve the country in their vicinity with the other half."
Etymology
From Middle English est, from Old English ēast, from Proto-West Germanic *austr, from Proto-Germanic *austrą, from Proto-Germanic *austraz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwsteros (“east”). Cognates Cognate with Scots aist (“east”), North Frisian uast, ååst, ööst (“east”), Saterland Frisian Aaste (“east”), West Frisian east (“east”), Dutch oost (“east”), German Ost (“east”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål øst (“east”), Faroese eystur (“east”), Icelandic austur (“east”), Norwegian Nynorsk aust, øst (“east”), Swedish ost, öst, öster (“east”); also with Avestan 𐬎𐬱𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬭𐬀 (ušastara, “eastern”), Latin auster (“south”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
easts (plural)
further east (comparative)
farther east (comparative)
furthest east (superlative)
farthest east (superlative)
Eastes (alternative)
Derived Forms
Phrases
Aberdare East
about east
Allendale East
Arrowsmith East
Aurora East
Awang East
back east
Bagong Barrio East