As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that east is the direction where the Sun rises:east comes fromMiddle Englishest, fromOld Englishēast, which itself comes from theProto-Germanic *aus-to- or *austra- "east, toward the sunrise", fromProto-Indo-European *aus- "to shine," or "dawn",[1] cognate withOld High German*ōstar "to the east",Latinaurora 'dawn', andGreekἠώςēōs 'dawn, east'.[2] Examples of the same formation in other languages includeLatinoriens 'east, sunrise' from orior 'to rise, to originate',Greek ανατολήanatolé 'east' from ἀνατέλλω 'to rise' and Hebrew מִזְרָח mizraḥ 'east' from זָרַח zaraḥ 'to rise, to shine'.Ēostre, aGermanic goddess of dawn, might have been a personification of both dawn and the cardinal points. In theMiddle Ages, East was referred to as theOrient, or abbreviated on compasses and maps as O.[3]
Byconvention, theright-hand side of amap is east. This convention has developed from the use of a compass, which placesnorth at the top. However, on maps of planets such asVenus andUranus which rotateretrograde, the left hand side is east.[citation needed]
East is the direction toward which theEarth rotates about itsaxis, and therefore the general direction from which theSun appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older thanChristianity, but has been adopted by this religion as the Orient was thought of as containing mankind's original home. Hence, Christian churches have been traditionally oriented towards the east.[4][5] After some early exceptions, this tradition of having the altar on the liturgical east has become a part of the church orientation conceptliturgical east and west.
TheOrient is theEast, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to theEastern world, in relation to Europe. In English, it is largely ametonym for, and referring to the same area as, the continent of Asia, divided into theFar East,Middle East, andNear East. Despite this Eurocentric origin, these regions are still located to the east of theGeographical centre of Earth.
One study has suggested that within an individualNorthern Hemisphere city, the east end is typically poorer because the prevailing winds blow from the west.[6]
