Etymograph

English

west

West comes from Middle English west, from Old English west, from Proto-Germanic *westrą, ultimately from PIE *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros ‘evening’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wek⁽ʷ⁾speros‘evening’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*westrazreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*westrąreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*westr‘western’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150west
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1596same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wek⁽ʷ⁾speros‘evening’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*westrazreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*westrąreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*westr‘western’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150west
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1596same form

Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book V, Prologue: “Foure times his place he shifted hath in sight,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷséps ‘night’

vespers, 8 more

through Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros ‘evening’

vesper, 8 more

Today it means

noun The direction opposite to that of the earth's rotation, specifically 270°.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros / west

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