eastern
/ˈi.stɚn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.78 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of, facing, situated in, or related to the east.
adj
adj
Of a region designated as the East by convention or from the perspective of the speaker or author.
adj
Of the Christian churches originating in the church of the Eastern Roman Empire.
adj
Example Sentences
- "While De Anza was exploring the Bay of San Francisco, seeking a site for the presidio, the American colonists on the eastern seaboard, three thousand miles away, were celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence."
- "The “little green men”—faces covered, wearing unmarked olive uniforms, speaking Russian and using Russian weapons—have played a significant role in both the occupation of Crimea and the civil war in eastern Ukraine.¹⁹⁶"
- "Another ANC splinter party, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), led by former President Jacob Zuma appears to be on course to do well in KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern coastal province where Durban is located."
- "The noble steamer Atlantic, after a most favorable passage of twelve days, carried our friends safely to the desired port of Liverpool. As Natalie stood once again upon terra firma, she could hardly credit that over three thousand miles of ocean separated her from her home,—that the same waves which washed the shores of her cherished island, broke upon the shores of this Eastern world."
Etymology
From Middle English esturne, esterne, from Old English ēasterne (“eastern”), from Proto-Germanic *austrōnijaz (“eastern”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews-ro- (“eastern”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn, east”). Cognate with Old Saxon and Old High German ōstrōni (“eastern”), Old Norse austrœnn (“eastern”). Morphologically east + -ern.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈi.stɚn/
- British English: /ˈiː.stən/