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west

Pronunciation: /wɛst/

The English word “west” has 10 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The direction opposite to that of the earth's rotation, specifically 270°.
  2. The western region or area; the inhabitants thereof.
  3. In a church: the direction of the gallery, opposite to the altar, and opposite to the direction faced by the priest when celebrating ad orientem.

adjective

  1. Situated or lying in or toward the west; westward.
  2. Of wind: from the west.
  3. Of or pertaining to the west; western.
  4. From the West; occidental.
  5. Designating, or situated in, the liturgical west, that part of a church which is opposite to, and farthest from, the part containing the chancel.

adverb

  1. Towards the west; westwards.

verb

  1. To move to the west; (of the sun), to set.

Etymology

PIE word *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros From Middle English west, from Old English west, from Proto-West Germanic *westr (“western”), from Proto-Germanic *westrą (“west”), from Proto-Germanic *westraz (“west”), from Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros (“evening”). Cognates Cognate with Scots wast (“west”), North Frisian waast, weest, wäst (“west”), Saterland Frisian Wääste (“west”), West Frisian and Dutch west…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.