west English · revision 3656

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf (West-Dene)|origins=gem-pro *westaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /west/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|west]], [[inh|ang|west|t=in or toward the west]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*westaz]],^(Hoad 1986) which is of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) It is usually connected with the root of [[la|vesper|t=evening, the west]] and [[grc|ἕσπερος|tr=hésperos|t=evening]], the west being where the sun sets;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) Klein instead suggests a root meaning “to go down”.^(Klein 1966) Its relatives include [[nl|west]] and [[non|vestr]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) French [[m|fr|ouest]] and Spanish [[m|es|oeste]] were borrowed from English.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) It is related to [[vesper]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In or toward the west: Old English ''west'', 886, in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', and about 725 in ''Beowulf'' in the compound ''West-Dene'', “West Danes”.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun is from the 12th century^(Hoad 1986) and the adjective from about 1375,^(Barnhart 1988) though Old English already had compounds such as ''westdǣl'', “west part”.^(Hoad 1986) ''Western'' goes back to late Old English, ''westward'' to the 13th century and ''westerly'' to the 16th.^(Hoad 1986) In geopolitics ''the West'' meant Europe as opposed to Asia from the 1860s, and later the Western allies in the First World War.^(Etymonline) ''Go west'', “to die”, from the setting sun, became common in that war, and ''Go west, young man'' is recorded from 1851.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – ''West-Dene'' (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 886 – Old English ''west'' (''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 12th century – noun.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * c. 1375 – adjective.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1851 – ''Go west, young man''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1860s – ''the West'', Europe.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914–18 – ''go west'', to die.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The direction in which the sun sets; the [[cardinal point]] opposite east.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A region lying in the west.^(AHD)

+ # ''(capitalized)'' Europe and North America as distinct from Asia, or formerly from the Communist countries.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(capitalized)'' The western part of the United States.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # In, toward, facing or coming from the west.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In, from or toward the west.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[east]]

+ * [[western]]

+ * [[vesper]]

+ * [[Occident]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate dialect word ''west'', “a sty on the eyelid”, of unknown origin, is recorded from the mid-16th century.^(SOED 2002)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}