eastern

English

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈiː.stən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈi.stɚn/

  • Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -iːstə(ɹ)n

Adjective

eastern (comparative more eastern, superlative most eastern)

1. Of, facing, situated in, or related to the east.

   Synonym: (poetic) eoan

   • 1948, Carey McWilliams, North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States, J. B. Lippincott Company, page 25:

     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.

   • 2015, Shane R. Reeves, David Wallace, “The Combatant Status of the “Little Green Men” and Other Participants in the Ukraine Conflict”, in International Law Studies, US Naval War College‎, volume 91, number 361, Stockton Center for the Study of International Law, page 393:

     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

2. (of a wind) Blowing from the east; easterly.
3. (loosely) Oriental.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• northern
• southern
• western
• northeastern
• southeastern
• southwestern
• northwestern

Anagrams

• Earnest, Saetern, Tareens, earnest, estrane, nearest, renates, sterane