Etymologically
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est

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Pronunciation

Forms

est (invariable)[1] First found as le hest (about 1138).[2][3]

Etymology

Like the other points of the compass, it is borrowed from Old English ēast (“east”), found as an adverb from the late 9th century and as a noun from the 12th.[4][2][5][6][1] The GLLF gives the Middle English form est.[7] Compare German Ost, Osten and Dutch oost.[4][2][8] Rey traces the Germanic forms to an Indo-European root meaning “dawn”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Geffrei Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis (about 1140) has est, the cardinal point of the rising sun.[4][2] The Livre des Rois (12th century) has L'entrée del temple ki fud devers le hest “the entrance of the temple which faced east”.[8]

Semantic evolution

Furetière (1690) records the sense “place lying to the east”, and in 1870 Larousse l'Est, the eastern region of France (Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté).[7][2] From 1945 to 1990 l'Est and les pays de l'Est were the socialist countries of Eastern Europe and the USSR, as against l'Ouest.[2][7] In Quebec the Cantons de l'Est are the eastern region bordering the United States, also called l'Estrie.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1138 – Le hest, Gaimar.[2]
  • c. 1140 – Est.[4]
  • 1690 – “Place lying to the east”, Furetière.[7]
  • 1870 – L'Est, the east of France.[7]
  • 1945–1990 – Les pays de l'Est, the Eastern bloc.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. east, the cardinal point where the sun rises: de l'est à l'ouest, vent d'est.[9][1]
  2. The eastern part of a country or region, l'Est, the east of France.[9][7]
  3. L'Est, les pays de l'Est: Eastern Europe, formerly the Eastern bloc.[2][9]

Adjective

  1. East, eastern (invariable): la côte est, longitude est.[9][1]

Usage notes

Est is also the third person singular present of être, a homograph pronounced /ɛ/.[4] By the TLFi's rule it takes a small letter for the direction and a capital for a region or group of states, though writers do not always follow it.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 90a
  7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert