English
east
East comes from Middle English est ‘east, easternness’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *austraz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*austraz‘east’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*austrąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*austr‘eastern’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ēast‘the east’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500est‘east’
- Englishearliest quotation 1855east
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*austraz‘east’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*austrąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*austr‘eastern’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ēast‘the east’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500est‘east’
- Englishearliest quotation 1855east
Earliest quotation: 1855, John Reynolds, My Own Times: Embracing Also the History of My Life: “We, in the west, agreed amongst ourselves that a…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- ‘to dawn’
or, air, plane, aerial, aurora, malaria, exhaust, aura, aria, aero, aureus, aurelia, oriel, oriole, aurum, 63 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwsteros
Today it means
noun The direction of the earth's rotation, specifically 90°.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *austraz / east