west
- 1The direction opposite to the way the earth spins, at 270 degrees on a compass.
The sun goes down in the west.
Our farm is a few miles to the west of the town.
UsageIn the west of means inside a place; to the west of means outside it.
Oppositeeast
- 2
- 3
- 4The western part of a place, or the people who live there.
It rains a lot in the west of the island.
The north voted for one man, and the west voted for the other.
UsageSay the west of a place.
Oppositeeast
- 5The countries of Western Europe and North America and their allies, thought of as one group.
Her books are popular in Japan and in the West.
Many students from India go to the West to study.
UsageSay the West, with a capital letter.
OppositeEast
Note
- 6The western part of the United States, especially in the 1800s, the time of the Wild West.
My great-great-grandfather left Ohio and went to the West to look for gold.
Many families crossed the plains to the West in covered wagons.
OppositeEast
Note
- 7The lands that lie to the west of a certain place.
To the people of the valley, the West was everything beyond the mountains.
For the people of that valley, the West meant everything beyond the western hills.
OppositeEast
Less common meanings
- 8
- 9An English last name for someone who lived west of the village or came from the west.
- 10Coming from the western part of the world.
- 11To travel toward the west, or, for the sun, to go down at the end of the day.
Foure times his place he shifted hath in sight, / And twice has risen, where he now doth West, / And wested twice, where he ought rise aright.
1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie QueeneHere, west means to go down, the way the sun sets. - 12In a card game like bridge, the place on the left, or the player sitting there.
- 13In the part of a church that is farthest from the altar area.
- 14In a church, the direction toward the end opposite the main altar, whatever its actual compass direction.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Old English west, going back to an old root meaning "evening", when the sun sets in the west.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English west derives from Old English west. en.wiktionary.org
- The word ultimately derives from an ancient form meaning evening. en.wiktionary.org
- The sun sets in the west. en.wikipedia.org
From an Old English word that goes back to an old root meaning "evening", when the sun sets in the west.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- West descends from an Old English word. en.wiktionary.org
- The Old English word ultimately descends from an ancestor meaning evening. en.wiktionary.org
- The sun sets in the west in the evening. en.wikipedia.org