Etymologically
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eastern

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈiː.stᵊn/, US /ˈiː.stɚn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English estern,[2] inherited from Old English ēasterne (“of the east, from the east”),[3][2] formed from east and the suffix -erne, which marks direction.[3][4] It is cognate with Old Saxon ōstrōni, Old High German ōstrōni and Old Norse austrœnn.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or belonging to the east of the world, oriental, and of the wind, blowing from the east: before 1000.[5] Old English also used it of the Eastern Church.[3]

Semantic evolution

“Lying towards the east” is from 1593.[5] In the United States it referred to the north-eastern States from 1776,[5] and the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia was so called from the 1620s.[3][5] A member of the Eastern Church is a noun sense from about 1000.[5] The Eastern Church and the Eastern Roman Empire take the adjective with a capital.[6][7]

Timeline

  • before 1000 – of the east; of the wind.[5]
  • 1593 – lying to the east.[5]
  • 1620s – the Eastern Shore.[3]
  • 1776 – of the eastern United States.[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Situated in, towards or facing the east.
  2. Coming from the east: an eastern wind.
  3. Of the countries of Asia; oriental.
  4. Eastern: of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
  5. Of the eastern part of the United States.

Word family

  • easternness
  • easternmost
  • easterner
  • easternize
  • noneastern
  • eastern bluebird
  • Eastern Europe

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster