East

East

East is a direction in geography. It is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points, opposite of west and at right angles to north and south. East is the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the Sun appears to rise.

Etymology

The etymology of "east" is from a Proto-Indo-European language word for dawn, "*hausos". "Cf." Latin "aurora" and Greek "eōs". "Eostre", a Germanic goddess of dawn, might have been a personification of both dawn and the cardinal point.

By convention, an ordinary terrestrial map is oriented so the right side is east. This convention dates from the Renaissance. Many medieval maps were oriented with the Orient (the East) east at the top, which is the source of the verb "."


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  • East — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda East (en inglés: Este) hace referencia a varios artículos: Contenido 1 Comunicaciones 2 Lugares 2.1 Europa 2.2 América …   Wikipedia Español

  • east — east; east·er·most; east·ern·er; east·ern·ism; east·ern·ize; east·ern·ly; east·ern·most; east·ing; east·lake; east·lin; east·lins; east·most; east·ness; east·ward·ly; east·wards; north·east·er; north·east·ern; north·east·ern·er;… …   English syllables

  • East — ([=e]st), n. [OE. est, east, AS. e[ a]st; akin to D. oost, oosten, OHG. [=o]stan, G. ost, osten, Icel. austr, Sw. ost, Dan. [ o]st, [ o]sten, Lith. auszra dawn, L. aurora (for ausosa), Gr. hw s, e os, a yws, Skr. ushas; cf. Skr. ush to burn, L.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • East — n 1.) the East a) the countries in Asia, especially China and Japan ▪ Martial arts originated in the East. b) the countries in the eastern part of Europe and Central Asia ▪ American relations with the East. c) AmE the part of the US east of the… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • east — O.E. east east, easterly, eastward, from P.Gmc. *aus to , *austra east, toward the sunrise (Cf. O.Fris. ast east, aster eastward, Du. oost O.S. ost, O.H.G. ostan, Ger. Ost, O.N. austr from the east ), from PIE …   Etymology dictionary

  • East — Nom Olivier Kponton Naissance 1969 Pays d’origine  France Décès 3  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • east — [ēst] n. [ME est < OE east, akin to Ger osten, ON austr < Gmc base * aust , dawn < IE base * awes , to shine, dawn > L aurora, dawn, aurum, gold] 1. the direction to the right of a person facing north; direction in which sunrise… …   English World dictionary

  • East — East, a. 1. Toward the rising sun; or toward the point where the sun rises when in the equinoctial; as, the east gate; the east border; the east side; the east wind is a wind that blows from the east. [1913 Webster] 2. (Eccl.) Designating, or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • east — ► NOUN (the east) 1) the direction towards the point of the horizon where the sun rises at the equinoxes, on the right hand side of a person facing north. 2) the eastern part of a country, region, or town. 3) (the East) the regions or countries… …   English terms dictionary

  • east — east, eastern, easterly adjectives. What is said here applies equally to north, south, and west, and their corresponding forms. East denotes physical position (on the east side of town) and is spelt with a capital initial (East) when forming part …   Modern English usage

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