Etymograph

English

east

East comes from Middle English est ‘east, easternness’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *austraz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*austraz1‘east’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*austrą1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*austr1‘eastern’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēast1‘the east’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500est1‘east’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1855east1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English east
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1855, John Reynolds, My Own Times: Embracing Also the History of My Life: “We, in the west, agreed amongst ourselves that a…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*austrazWiktionary, English east‘east’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*austrąWiktionary, English eastreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*austrWiktionary, English east‘eastern’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ēastWiktionary, English east‘the east’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500estWiktionary, English east‘east’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1855eastWiktionary, English east. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1855, John Reynolds, My Own Times: Embracing Also the History of My Life: “We, in the west, agreed amongst ourselves that a…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with east, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- ‘to dawn’

  • or ← aurum ← *auzom ← *h₂éws-o-m
  • air ← aire ← āēr ← ᾱ̓ήρ ← *auhḗr
  • plane ← aeroplane ← aéroplane ← ᾱ̓ερόπλᾰνος ← πλανάω
  • aerial ← ἀέριος ← ἀήρ ← *auhḗr ← *h₂ewsér
  • aurora ← *h₂éwsōs
  • malaria ← aria ← āera ← ἀήρ ← *auhḗr
  • exhaust ← exhaustus ← exhauriō ← hauriō ← *auziō
  • aura ← αὔρα ← *auhrā ← *h₂éwsr̥h₂ ← *h₂ewsér
  • aria ← āera ← ᾱ̓ήρ ← *auhḗr ← *h₂ewsér
  • aero ← ᾱ̓ήρ ← *auhḗr ← *h₂ewsér
  • aureus ← aurum ← *auzom ← *h₂éws-o-m
  • aurelia ← aureus ← aurum ← *auzom

73 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun The direction of the earth's rotation, specifically 90°.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “east”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *austraz / east