East is one of the four
cardinal directions or
points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from
west
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance lang ...
and is the direction from which the
Sun rises on the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is made possible by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Alm ...
.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that east is the direction where the Sun rises: ''east'' comes from
Middle English ''est'', from
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest attested form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo- ...
''ēast'', which itself comes from the
Proto-Germanic *''aus-to-'' or *''austra-'' "east, toward the sunrise", from
Proto-Indo-European *aus- "to shine," or "
dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect daylight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...
", cognate with
Old High German ''*ōstar'' "to the east",
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansi ...
''aurora'' 'dawn', and
Greek
Greek may refer to anything related to:
* Greece, a country in Europe
* Ancient Greece, the ancient civilization before the end of Antiquity
** Greek mythology, a body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greeks
* Greeks, an ethnic group
* Gre ...
''ēōs'' 'dawn, east'. Examples of the same formation in other languages include
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansi ...
oriens 'east, sunrise' from orior 'to rise, to originate',
Greek
Greek may refer to anything related to:
* Greece, a country in Europe
* Ancient Greece, the ancient civilization before the end of Antiquity
** Greek mythology, a body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greeks
* Greeks, an ethnic group
* Gre ...
ανατολή
anatolé 'east' from ἀνατέλλω 'to rise' and Hebrew מִזְרָח mariza 'east' from זָרַח zaraḥ 'to rise, to shine'. ''
Ēostre'', a
Germanic goddess of dawn, might have been a personification of both dawn and the cardinal points. In the
Middle Ages, East was referred to as the
Orient
The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term '' Occident'', which refers to the Western world.
In English, it is largely a m ...
, or abbreviated on compasses and maps as O.
East is sometimes abbreviated as E.
Navigation
By
convention
Convention may refer to:
* Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct
** Treaty, an agreement in international law
** Convention (political norm), uncodified legal or political tradition
* Convention (meetin ...
, the ''right-hand side'' of a
map
In cartography, a map is a two-dimensional representation of the Earth's surface depicting the spatial layout of geographical features. Maps may also incorporate thematic information, such as demographic, economic, environmental, or other ...
is east. This convention has developed from the use of a compass, which places
north
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''nort ...
at the top. However, on maps of planets such as
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Similar in size and mass to Earth, Venus has no liquid water, and its atmosphere is far thicker and denser than that of any other rocky body in the Solar System. The atmosphere is composed mostly ...
and
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or volatiles. The planet's ...
which rotate
retrograde, the left hand side is east.
To go east using a compass for
navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
, one sets a
bearing or
azimuth
An azimuth (; from ) is the horizontal angle from a cardinal direction, most commonly north, in a local or observer-centric spherical coordinate system.
Mathematically, the relative position vector from an observer ( origin) to a point o ...
of 90°.
Cultural
East is the direction toward which the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is made possible by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Alm ...
rotates about its
axis, and therefore the general direction from which the
Sun
The Sun is the star located at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light and ...
appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older than
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. The Gospels state that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead a ...
, but has been
adopted by this religion as the Orient was thought of as containing mankind's original home. Hence, Christian churches have been traditionally oriented towards the east. After some early exceptions, this tradition of having the altar on the liturgical east has become a part of the church orientation concept
liturgical east and west.
The ''Orient'' is the ''East'', traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the
Eastern world, in relation to Europe. In English, it is largely a
metonym for, and referring to the same area as, the continent of Asia, divided into the
Far East,
Middle East, and
Near East. Despite this Eurocentric origin, these regions are still located to the east of the
Geographical centre of Earth.
One study has suggested that within an individual
Northern Hemisphere city, the east end is typically poorer because the prevailing winds blow from the west.
See also
*
Intermediate Region
*
Easting
*
Oriental
References
External links
* m
{{CandODirections
Orientation (geometry)
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