east (English)
Where does "east" come from?
The word 'east' traces its origins back to the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂ews-, meaning 'to dawn' or 'to become light.' Through the stages of Proto-Germanic and Old English, the term evolved to describe the direction of the sunrise, eventually stabilizing as the modern English 'east.' Its linguistic history links it to various Germanic cognates and even the related Latin term 'auster,' which anciently shifted to designate the south.
Full etymology tree
- east (English), 'Situated or lying in or towards the east; eastward.'
- inherited est (Middle English), 'east, easternness'
- inherited ēast (Old English), 'the east'
- inherited *austr (Proto-West Germanic), 'eastern, easternly'
- inherited *austrą (Proto-Germanic), 'east'
- derived *austraz (Proto-Germanic), 'east, eastern'
- inherited *h₂éwsteros (Proto-Indo-European), 'in the direction of dawn, east'
- compound *h₂ews- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to become light'
- derived *h₂éws-s (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *h₂us-és (Proto-Indo-European)
- affix *-teros (Proto-Indo-European), 'Contrastive or oppositional adjectival suffix.'
- compound *h₂ews- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to become light'
- inherited *h₂éwsteros (Proto-Indo-European), 'in the direction of dawn, east'
- derived *austraz (Proto-Germanic), 'east, eastern'
- inherited *austrą (Proto-Germanic), 'east'
- inherited *austr (Proto-West Germanic), 'eastern, easternly'
- inherited ēast (Old English), 'the east'
- inherited est (Middle English), 'east, easternness'
Direct ancestors
- h₂ews- (Proto-Indo-European)
- est (Middle English)
- east (Old English)
- austr (Proto-West Germanic)
- austrą (Proto-Germanic)
- austraz (Proto-Germanic)
- h₂éwsteros (Proto-Indo-European)
- aist (Scots)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris