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Webster 1913 Edition

West

West

,
Noun.
[AS.
west
, adv.; akin to D.
west
, G.
west
,
westen
, OHG.
westan
, Icel.
vestr
, Sw.
vest
,
vester
,
vestan
, Dan.
vest
,
vesten
, and perhaps to L.
vesper
evening, Gr. [GREEK]. [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK]. Cf.
Vesper
,
Visigoth
.]
1.
The point in the heavens where the sun is seen to set at the equinox; or, the corresponding point on the earth; that one of the four cardinal points of the compass which is in a direction at right angles to that of north and south, and on the left hand of a person facing north; the point directly opposite to east.
And fresh from the
west
is the free wind’s breath.
Bryant.
2.
A country, or region of country, which, with regard to some other country or region, is situated in the direction toward the west.
3.
Specifically:
(a)
The Westen hemisphere, or the New World so called, it having been discovered by sailing westward from Europe; the Occident.
(b)
(U. S. Hist. & Geog.)
Formerly, that part of the United States west of the Alleghany mountains; now, commonly, the whole region west of the Mississippi river; esp., that part which is north of the Indian Territory, New Mexico, etc. Usually with the definite article.
West by north
,
West by south
,
according to the notation of the mariner's compass, that point which lies 11¼° to the north or south, respectively, of the point due west.
–
West northwest
,
West southwest
,
that point which lies 22½° to the north or south of west, or halfway between west and northwest or southwest, respectively. See Illust. of
Compass
.

West

,
Adj.
1.
Lying toward the west; situated at the west, or in a western direction from the point of observation or reckoning; proceeding toward the west, or coming from the west;
as, a
west
course is one toward the west; an east and
west
line; a
west
wind blows from the west
.
This shall be your
west
border.
Num. xxxiv. 6.
West end
,
the fashionable part of London, commencing from the east, at Charing Cross.

West

,
adv.
[AS.
west
.]
Westward.

West

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To pass to the west; to set, as the sun.
[Obs.]
“The hot sun gan to west.”
Chaucer.
2.
To turn or move toward the west; to veer from the north or south toward the west.

Webster 1828 Edition

West

WEST

,
Noun.
[L., a decline or fall, departure. In elements, it coincides with waste.]
1.
In strictness, that point of the horizon where the sun sets at the equinox, or any point in a direct line between the spectator or other object, and that point of the horizon; or west is the intersection of the prime vertical with the horizon, on that side where the sun sets. West is directly opposite to east, and one of the cardinal points. In a less strict sense, west is the region of the hemisphere near the point where the sun sets when in the equator. Thus we say, a star sets in the west, a meteor appears in the west, a cloud rises in the west.
2.
A country situated in the region towards the sun-setting, with respect to another. Thus in the United States, the inhabitants of the Atlantic states speak of the inhabitants of Ohio, Kentucky or Missouri, and call them people of the west; and formerly, the empire of Rome was called the empire of the West, in opposition to the empire of the East, the seat of which was Constantinople.

WEST

,
Adj.
1.
Being in a line towards the point where the sun sets when in the equator; or in a looser sense, being in the region near the line of direction towards that point, either on the earth or in the heavens.
This shall be your west border. Numbers 34.
2.
Coming or moving from the west or western region; as a west wind.

WEST

,
adv.
To the western region; at the westward; more westward; as, Ireland lies west of England.

WEST

,
Verb.
I.
To pass to the west; to set, as the sun. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024

West

West

See also: west

English

Proper noun

West

  1. The Western world; the regions, primarily situated in the Western Hemisphere, whose culture is derived from Europe.
  2. (historical) the Western Bloc (the noncommunist countries of Europe and America)
  3. (US) The Western United States in the 19th century era of terrestrial expansion; the Wild West.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
      I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.
  4. The western states of the United States.
  5. The European Union; a Western Region that is primarily an economic and political Bloc that covers 28 member states.
  6. Regions or countries lying to the west of a specified or implied point of orientation.
  7. The western part of any region.
    Senegal is a nation that lies in the West.
  8. The one of four positions at 90-degree intervals that lies to the west or at the left of a diagram.
  9. A person (as a bridge player) occupying this position during a specified activity.
  10. A surname​ for a newcomer from the west, or someone who lived to the west of a village.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

German

West (on the left side of the card)

Etymology

From Old High German west, from Proto-Germanic *westrą. Compare Dutch, English, and West Frisian west, Danish vest.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈvɛst/
  • Rhymes: -ɛst

Noun

West m ‎(genitive Wests or West, no plural)

  1. the west (used without article; a short form of Westen)
    • der Wind kommt aus West
      the wind is coming from the west
  2. a wind coming from the west (used with article)

Antonyms

Derived terms

See also

west

west

See also: West

English

Noun

west ‎(uncountable)

  1. One of the four principal compass points, specifically 270°, conventionally directed to the left on maps; the direction of the setting sun at an equinox, abbreviated as W.

Derived terms

Coordinate terms

Translations

Adjective

west

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

Translations

Adverb

west ‎(not comparable)

  1. Towards the west; westwards.

Translations

Verb

west ‎(third-person singular simple present wests, present participle westing, simple past and past participle wested)

  1. To move to the west; (of the sun) to set. [from 15th c.]
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.prologue:
      Foure times his place he shifted hath in sight, / And twice has risen, where he now doth West, / And wested twice, where he ought rise aright.

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɛst
  • IPA(key): /ʋɛst/

Etymology

From Old Dutch west, from Proto-Germanic *westrą. Compare German West, English and West Frisian west, Danish vest.

Adverb

west

  1. (only in compounds) west
  2. westwards

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

noordwest noord noordoost
west oost
zuidwest zuid zuidoost

Italian

Noun

west m ‎(invariable)

  1. West (historic area of America)

Kurdish

Noun

west f

  1. act of tiring or getting tired

Derived terms

Low German

Verb

west

  1. past participle of wesen

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *westrą, whence also Old High German west, Old Norse vestr.

Adverb

west

  1. west

Descendants

Old French

Etymology

Borrowing from Old English west.

Adverb

west

  1. west

Descendants

Etymology

From Middle English west, from Old English west, from Proto-Germanic *westrą. Cognate with Scots wast, Saterland Frisian Wääste, West Frisian west, Dutch west, German West, Danish vest. Cognate also with Old French west, French ouest, Spanish oeste, Catalan oest, Galician oeste, Italian ovest (all ultimately borrowings of the English word). Compare also Latin vesper.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /wɛst/, enPR: wĕst
  • Rhymes: -ɛst

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