Editing East

{{short description|One of the four cardinal directions}}
{{Other uses|East (disambiguation)}}

[[File:Compass Rose English East.svg|thumb|250px|right|A 16-point [[compass rose]] with east highlighted to the right]]
'''East''' is one of the four [[cardinal direction]]s or [[points of the compass]]. It is the opposite direction from [[west]] and is the direction from which the [[Sunrise|Sun rises]] on the [[Earth]].

==Etymology==
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that east is the direction where the Sun rises: ''east'' comes from [[Middle English]] ''est'', from [[Old English]] ''ēast'', which itself comes from the [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] *''aus-to-'' or *''austra-'' "east, toward the sunrise", from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] *aus- "to shine," or "[[dawn]]",<ref>{{cite dictionary|title=east|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/east|dictionary=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=3 December 2013}}</ref> cognate with [[Old High German]] ''*ōstar'' "to the east", [[Latin]] ''aurora'' 'dawn', and [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|ἠώς}} ''ēōs'' 'dawn, east'.<ref>{{cite dictionary|title=east|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/east|dictionary=[[Merriam-Webster]]|access-date=3 December 2013}}</ref> Examples of the same formation in other languages include [[Latin]] [[Orient|oriens]] 'east, sunrise' from orior 'to rise, to originate', [[Greek language|Greek]] ανατολή [[Anatolia|anatolé]] 'east' from ἀνατέλλω 'to rise' and Hebrew מִזְרָח mizraḥ 'east' from זָרַח zaraḥ 'to rise, to shine'. ''[[Ēostre]]'', a [[List of Germanic deities|Germanic goddess]] of dawn, might have been a personification of both dawn and the cardinal points.

East is sometimes abbreviated as '''E'''.

== Navigation ==
By [[Norm (social)|convention]], the ''right-hand side'' of a [[map]] is east. This convention has developed from the use of a compass, which places [[north]] at the top. However, on maps of planets such as [[Venus]] and [[Uranus]] which rotate [[Retrograde motion|retrograde]], the left hand side is east.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}

To go east using a compass for [[navigation]], one sets a [[Bearing (navigation)|bearing]] or [[azimuth]] of 90°.

==Cultural==
East is the direction toward which the [[Earth]] rotates  about its [[Rotation around a fixed axis|axis]], and therefore the general direction from which the [[Sun]] appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older than [[Christianity]], 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Orientation of Churches |url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11305a.htm |publisher=Catholic Encyclopedia |access-date=3 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Peters |first=Bosco |title=Architectural Design Guidelines 1 |url= http://liturgy.co.nz/architectural-design-guidelines-1/9558 |publisher=Liturgy.co.nz |access-date=3 December 2013 |date=30 April 2012}}</ref> After some early exceptions, this tradition of having the altar on the liturgical east has become a part of the church orientation concept [[liturgical east and west]].

The ''Orient'' is the ''East'', traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the [[Eastern world]], in relation to Europe. In English, it is largely a [[metonym]] for, and referring to the same area as, the continent of Asia, divided into the [[Far East]], [[Middle East]], and [[Near East]]. Despite this Eurocentric origin, these regions are still located to the east of the [[Geographical centre of Earth]].

One study has suggested that within an individual [[Northern Hemisphere]] city, the east end is typically poorer because the prevailing winds blow from the west.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Benedictus |first1=Leo |title=Blowing in the wind: why do so many cities have poor east ends? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/may/12/blowing-wind-cities-poor-east-ends |access-date=2 October 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=12 May 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Intermediate Region]]
*[[Easting]]
*[[Oriental]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}

{{CandODirections}}

[[Category:Orientation (geometry)]]
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