O.E.
east, from P.Gmc.
*aus-to-, *austra- "east, toward the sunrise" (cf. Du.
oost, Ger.
Ost, O.N.
austr "from the east"), from PIE
*aus- "dawn" (cf. Skt.
ushas "dawn," Gk.
aurion "morning," O.Ir.
usah, Lith.
auszra "dawn," L.
aurora "dawn,"
auster "south"), lit. "to shine." The east is the direction in which dawn breaks. For shift in sense in L., see
Australia. Meaning "the eastern part of the world" (from Europe) is from c.1300. Cold War use of
East for "communist states" first recorded 1951. Natives of eastern Germany and the Baltics were known as
easterlings 16c.-18c. The
east wind in Biblical Palestine was scorching and destructive (cf. Ezek. xvii.10); in New England it is bleak, wet, unhealthful.
East End of London so called from 1846;
East Side of Manhattan so called from 1882;
Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia so called from 1624.
East Indies (India and Southeast Asia) so called 1598 to distinguish them from the West Indies.