Skip to main content
East

East

19 3.1
Countries in eastern and southeastern Asia that people often think of as a region different from the West
  • noun
  • /iːst/
translation icon : Oriente
  • I WAS BORN IN THE SLUMS OF THE EAST END OF LONDON, AND THAT'S WHERE I GREW UP.
  • the Middle East

That's Dutch for the United East India Company.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying "Where would you... ?"

  • Or other things that would go into East Asian cooking.

  • I mean, it is like my dream and life to spend time in the far east.

  • We have the US and East Asia, at least Japan and Korea.

  • In the east, a bloody war continued in the Donbas for four years.

  • "People would come from the east, from the west, south; they all congregated there," Miller said.

    Blog text (1)
  • Her fans wax poetic about her ability to weave East and West together.

  • A so-called Iron Curtain divided Europe between communist East and capitalist West.

  • A ninety-minute drive to the east brings frustrated coastal stargazers to clear mountain skies.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Many cultural traditions in East Asia emphasize respect for elders and family values.

Synonyms

Asia
vsEast
518 1.0

A very large continent with many countries and people

is narrower, referring to a culturally distinct part of that continent
Far East
vsEast
24 3.5

Countries in eastern Asia like China, Japan, and Korea

is broader, including more nearby countries and stressing contrast with western cultures
Orient
vsEast
  • Archaic
21 9.9

An old name for countries in East and Southeast Asia

is the neutral modern term used for that culturally distinct region

Antonyms

235 1.0

The part of a country or city on the side where the sun sets

Compounds

238 2.8

A region around the eastern Mediterranean including countries from Egypt and Turkey to Iran

145 2.4

The eastern coast of the United States from Boston to Washington DC

38 1.1

The part of a place or building that faces east

24 3.5

A country in north central Europe under Soviet control from 1949 to 1990

24 3.5

Countries in eastern Asia like China, Japan, and Korea

16 3.7

A stretch of water in New York City separating Manhattan and the Bronx from Queens and Brooklyn

16 4.1

A person born or living in former East Germany

16 4.6

Connected with East Germany or its people from 1949 to 1990

10 1.9

A direction toward the east at 90 degrees on a compass

10 2.1

The eastern part of Africa that includes countries like Kenya and Tanzania

7 4.3

A region around the eastern Mediterranean that includes parts of Southwest Asia and Egypt

7 2.7

Relating to the countries, people, and culture of East Africa

The eastern coast of the United States along the Atlantic Ocean between Boston and Washington, DC

3 3.5

The eastern part of central London that has many cultures and lively markets

East India
  • Archaic
2 4.9

An old name for the islands between Asia and Australia, like the Malay Archipelago

A British trading company that began in 1600 and later ruled parts of India

1 1.8

A wind that blows from the east

1 3.9

A region in eastern England made of Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts of Cambridgeshire and Essex

East Indian
  • Archaic
1 5.8

A person from South or Southeast Asia, for example India

East Indies
  • Archaic
1 5.0

A group of islands between Asia and Australia, including Indonesia, historically named by Europeans

The direction halfway between east and southeast, about 112.5 degrees from north

east by south
  • Specialized
1 8.2

A compass direction just south of east

A sea in the western Pacific between China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan

A compass point halfway between east and northeast

south by east
  • Specialized
1 8.5

A compass direction that is a little east of south

A former area of eastern Africa ruled by Britain from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s

A tall African tree with wood that smells nice and lasts a long time for making furniture and houses

east by north
  • Specialized
9.1

A compass direction one point north of due east

East India kino
  • Archaic
9.9

A reddish or black sticky juice from some trees used in medicine and tanning

A large Indian tree with hard dark purple-brown wood used for fine furniture and musical instruments

A large Indian tree that sends roots down from branches to form new trunks

A tropical shrub with shiny leaves and scented night flowers from northern India to Thailand

A large tree from India with dark, hard wood used for fine furniture and musical instruments

The part of Malaysia on the island of Borneo that includes Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan

East Midland
  • Archaic
9.9

A form of Middle English from the East Midlands that later forms the basis of Modern English

The eastern part of Pakistan before 1971 that is now Bangladesh

East Chadic
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of languages spoken mainly in Chad and nearby areas

A person who judges contests very strictly and unfairly, used as a joke

East Germanic
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of old languages like Gothic once used in eastern Europe and no longer spoken

9.9

Languages from the Germanic family once spoken in Eastern Europe, for example Gothic, and now no longer spoken

A city in southwest Illinois on the Mississippi River across from Saint Louis, Missouri

4.4

A sea between Japan and the eastern coasts of Korea and Russia, often called the Sea of Japan

A county in southern England on the coast near Brighton

East Tocharian
  • Specialized
9.9

An eastern dialect of the dead Tocharian language spoken long ago in the Turpan area of Xinjiang, China

An armed group of Uighur Muslims who want their own country in Xinjiang and use violence

A Uighur Muslim group that wants Xinjiang to be independent and is listed as a terrorist group by some countries

The eastern part of the state of Virginia near the Atlantic Ocean

6.5

A person who lives on the east side of a city like New York

A line that runs between east and west

A UN group that helps Asian and Far Eastern countries develop their economies

A viral illness that causes fever, cough, and breathing problems and often spreads from camels to people

nor'-east
  • Archaic
9.7

The compass point halfway between north and east

nor'-nor'-east
  • Archaic
9.9

A compass point between north and northeast

north by east
  • Specialized
8.1

A compass direction slightly east of north at about 11 degrees

northeast by east
  • Specialized
8.1

A compass direction one point east of northeast, halfway to east-northeast

sou'-sou'-east
  • Archaic
9.9

The compass direction halfway between south and southeast

A compass direction that is a little east of southeast at about 124 degrees from north

sou'-east
  • Archaic
8.6

A point on a compass between south and east

Surface Forms

East singular
Easts plural

Etymology

East comes from an old word ēast meaning 'dawn' or 'to rise'. Think of the sun rising in the east — that is why the lands to that side, especially in Asia, came to be called the 'East'.