"east" in seven languages
Meaningeast
Spanish
/ˈeste/
masc.borrowed · French est
French
/ɛst/
masc.borrowed · Old English ēast (12th c.)
Italian
/ɛst/
masc.borrowed · French est
Portuguese
/ˈlɛstʃi/
masc.borrowed · probably French l'est, with the article fused on
Romanian
/est/
neut.borrowed · French est
Catalan
/ɛst/
masc.borrowed · French est
Llevant 'where the sun rises' is the traditional word.
English
/ist/
from Latin/French · Old English ēast (English itself is the source)
Its Indo-European root *h₂ews- 'dawn' also gave Latin AURŌRA.
The ancestor
Old English ēast‘east, where the dawn is’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
This time the borrowing went the other way: the sisters took their compass point from English, by way of French. The old Latin word is still around as oriente / orient / oriente, 'where the sun rises'.
English relatives: Easter (same root)
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl sol sale por el este.
- frLe soleil se lève à l'est.
- itIl sole sorge a est.
- ptO sol nasce no leste.
- roSoarele răsare la est.
- caEl sol surt per l'est.
- enThe sun rises in the east.