Editing West

{{short description|One of the four cardinal directions}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2019}}
[[Image:Compass Rose English West.svg|thumb|250px|right|A 16-point [[compass rose]] with ''west'' highlighted in black]]

'''West''' is one of the four cardinal directions or [[points of the compass]]. It is the opposite direction from [[east]] and is the direction in which the [[Sunset|Sun sets]] on the [[Earth]].

==Etymology==
The word "west" is a [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] word passed into some [[Romance languages]] (''ouest'' in French, ''oest'' in Catalan, ''ovest'' in Italian, ''vest'' in Romanian, ''oeste'' in Spanish and Portuguese). As in other languages, the word formation stems from the fact that west is the direction of the setting sun in the evening: 'west' derives from the Indo-European root ''*wes'' reduced from ''*wes-pero'' 'evening, night', cognate with Ancient Greek ἕσπερος [[Hesperus|hesperos]] 'evening; evening star; western' and Latin vesper 'evening; west'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/west|title=west {{!}} Origin and meaning of west by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com|language=en|access-date=2018-03-03}}</ref> Examples of the same formation in other languages include Latin [[Occident|occidens]] 'west' from occidō 'to go down, to set' and Hebrew מַעֲרָב (maarav) 'west' from עֶרֶב (erev) 'evening'.

West is sometimes abbreviated as '''W'''.

==Navigation==
To go west using a compass for [[navigation]] (in a place where magnetic north is the same direction as true north) one needs to set a [[Bearing (navigation)|bearing]] or [[azimuth]] of 270°.

West is the direction opposite that of the [[Earth]]'s rotation on its axis, and is therefore the general direction towards which the [[Sun]] appears to constantly progress and eventually set. This is not true on the planet [[Venus]], which rotates in the opposite direction from the Earth ([[Retrograde and prograde motion|retrograde rotation]]). To an observer on the surface of Venus, the Sun would rise in [[Poles of astronomical bodies|the west]] and set in the east<ref name="compare">{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/compare_the_planets/terrestrial.html |title=Space Topics: Compare the Planets |publisher=[[The Planetary Society]] |access-date=12 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218084852/http://planetary.org/explore/topics/compare_the_planets/terrestrial.html |archive-date=18 February 2006}}</ref> although Venus's opaque clouds prevent observing the Sun from the planet's surface.<ref>{{cite book |title=Solar System Voyage |author=Serge Brunier |author-link=Serge Brunier |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkLxJOhEj-wC&pg=PA40 |isbn=978-0-521-80724-1 |translator-last=Dunlop |translator-first=Storm}}</ref>

In a map with north at the top, west is on the left.

Moving continuously west is following a [[circle of latitude]].

==Weather==
Due to the direction of the Earth's rotation, the prevailing wind in many places in the [[middle latitudes]] (i.e. between 35 and 65 degrees [[latitude]]) is from the west, known as the [[westerlies]].<ref name="Glossary of Meteorology 2009">{{cite web|author=Glossary of Meteorology|year=2009|url=http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=westerlies1|title=Westerlies|publisher=American Meteorological Society|access-date=2009-04-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622073904/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=westerlies1|archive-date=2010-06-22}}</ref><ref name="Sue Ferguson">{{cite web|url=http://www.icbemp.gov/science/ferguson_42.pdf|title=Climatology of the Interior Columbia River Basin|author=Sue Ferguson|date=2001-09-07|publisher=Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project|access-date=2009-09-12|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515003307/http://www.icbemp.gov/science/ferguson_42.pdf|archive-date=2009-05-15}}</ref>

==Cultural==
{{further|Western culture}}
The phrase "the West" is often spoken in reference to the [[Western world]], which includes the [[European Union]] (also the [[European Free Trade Association|EFTA]] countries), the United Kingdom, the Americas, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and (in part) South Africa.

The concept of the Western part of the earth has its roots in the [[Western Roman Empire]] and the [[Western Christianity]]. During the [[Cold War]] "the West" was often used to refer to the [[NATO]] camp as opposed to the [[Warsaw Pact]] and [[Non-Aligned Movement|non-aligned nations]]. The expression survives, with an increasingly ambiguous meaning.

==Symbolic meanings==
In [[Chinese Buddhism]], the West represents movement toward the [[Buddha (general)|Buddha]] or enlightenment (see [[Journey to the West]]). The ancient [[Aztec]]s believed that the West was the realm of the great goddess of [[water]], mist, and [[maize]]. In [[Ancient Egypt]], the West was considered to be the portal to the [[underworld|netherworld]], and is the cardinal direction regarded in connection with [[death]], though not always with a negative connotation. Ancient Egyptians also believed that the [[Goddess]] [[Amunet]] was a personification of the West.<ref>[[Joseph Campbell|Campbell, Joseph]]. ''The Mythic Image.'' [[Princeton University Press]], 1981.</ref> The [[Celt]]s believed that beyond the western sea off the edges of all maps lay the [[Otherworld]], or Afterlife.

In [[Judaism]], west is seen to be toward the [[Shekinah]] (presence) of God, as in Jewish history the [[Tabernacle]] and subsequent [[Jerusalem Temple]] faced east, with God's Presence in the [[Holy of Holies]] up the steps to the west.  According to the [[Bible]], the [[Israelites]] crossed the [[Jordan River]] westward into the [[Promised Land]].

In [[Islam]], cardinal directions carry spiritual significance, but the emphasis is often on the [[Omnipresence|omnipresence]] of God rather than symbolic geography. The West, like all directions, is encompassed by the divine presence. The [[Quran|Qur’an]] states: "To God belong the East and the West. Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God. God is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing." (2:115). This verse underscores the idea that spiritual truth transcends direction, offering a contrast to traditions that attach specific symbolic meanings to the West.

In [[American literature]] (e.g., in ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'') moving West has sometimes symbolized gaining [[liberty|freedom]], perhaps as an association with the settling of the [[Wild West]] (see also the [[American frontier]] and [[Manifest Destiny]]).

==References==
{{reflist}}

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

{{CandODirections}}

[[Category:Orientation (geometry)]]