west

(wĕst)
n.

1. (Abbr. W)
   1. The cardinal point on the mariner's compass 270° clockwise from due north and directly opposite east.
   2. The direction opposite to the direction of the earth's axial rotation.
2. An area or region lying in the west.
3. often West
   1. The western part of the earth, especially Europe and the Western Hemisphere.
   2. The western part of a region or country.
4. often West
   1. A historical region of the United States west of the Allegheny Mountains.
   2. The region of the United States west of the Mississippi River.
   3. The United States, Canada, and the noncommunist countries of Europe, especially during the Cold War.
   4. The nations of North America and Europe with developed capitalist economies, especially in contrast to less-developed nations.

adj.

1. To, toward, of, facing, or in the west.
2. Originating in or coming from the west: a gentle west wind.

adv.
In, from, or toward the west.

[Middle English, from Old English.]

View more Travel videos

As the neatest term available to refer to Western Europe, the United States, and other countries of European settlement in one breath, the word connotes an ideal of secular and democratic liberalism and economic growth which peoples in Russia, Turkey, China, and elsewhere have pursued and rejected by turns throughout the modern period. This was subsequently overlaid, from the later 1940s, by Cold War ideological and military rivalry between an avowedly communist East under Soviet and Chinese leadership and a West, now clearly centred upon the United States, in which the values of consumerism, economic growth, and personal liberty assumed heightened prominence. It is against this supposedly degenerate modern culture, in the aftermath of the Cold War, that Islamic states as varied as Iran and Saudi Arabia have continued to define themselves, though without abandoning the standards of technological and military sophistication and material well-being first achieved in the West.

— Charles Jones

As affix, see main name, e.g. for West Acre (Norfolk) see Acre.

Previous:	Wessington, Wessex, Wesham
Next:	West Alvington, West Bagborough, West Chevington

IN BRIEF: The direction directly opposite of the east.

It's a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries. — John Masefield (1878-1967).

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

sign description: One W hand makes a sliding motion in a westerly direction.

---

Quotes:

"You in the West have a problem. You are unsure when you are being lied to, when you are being tricked. We do not suffer from this; and unlike you, we have acquired the skill of reading between the lines." - Zdenek Urbanak

"You have riches and freedom here but I feel no sense of faith or direction. You have so many computers, why don't you use them in the search for love?" - Lech Walesa

We associate the westerly direction with where the sun sets, so dreaming about the West could be alluding to the end of something (sunset) or to rest (after the sun goes down). In the United States, the west is traditionally associated with expansion and opportunity.

---

adverb
adverb

to go west to be killed, destroyed, lost, etc. (1915 —) .
J. B. Morton 'All the Lewis guns gone west,' someone said (1919).

[Perh. from the notion of the sun setting in the west.]

Previous:	welly, well-hung, well
Next:	wet, wet leg, wet smack

For a list of words related to west, see:

• Dimensions and Directions - west: direction of sunset; direction to one’s left when facing north

---

See words rhyming with "west."

  See crossword solutions for the clue West.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - vest
adj. - vestlig, vestre, vesten-, vest-
adv. - vestpå, imod vest

idioms:

• West Indian    vestindisk

Nederlands (Dutch)
west, westen

Français (French)
n. - ouest, (Géog, Pol) l'Ouest, l'Occident, ouest (aux cartes)
adj. - ouest, d'ouest
adv. - vers l'ouest, à l'ouest

idioms:

• West Indian    Antillais, antillais

Deutsch (German)
n. - Westen
adj. - westlich, West-
adv. - nach Westen

idioms:

• West Indian    Westinder, westindisch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (η) δύση, οι δυτικές περιοχές ή χώρες
adj. - δυτικός, της δύσης
adv. - προς τη δύση, δυτικά

idioms:

• West Indian    κάτοικος των Δυτικών Ινδιών (των Αντιλλών)

Italiano (Italian)
verso l'Ovest, occidente, occidentale

idioms:

• West Indian    originario delle Antille

Português (Portuguese)
n. - oeste (m), ocidente (m)
adj. - ocidente, do oeste
adv. - para o ocidente

idioms:

• West Indian    habitante das Antilhas

Русский (Russian)
запад, западные районы, западные штаты, страны Западной Европы и Северной Америки, западный ветер, западный, обращенный к западу, на запад

idioms:

• West Indian    уроженец Вест-Индии, вест-индский

Español (Spanish)
n. - oeste, occidente
adj. - del oeste, occidental
adv. - hacia el oeste, en el oeste

idioms:

• West Indian    antillano

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - väster
adj. - västra, västlig, väst-
adv. - västerut, väster

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
西方, 西部, 西方的, 向西的, 向西方

idioms:

• West Indian    西印度群岛的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 西方, 西部
adj. - 西方的, 向西的
adv. - 向西方

idioms:

• West Indian    西印度群島的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 서쪽, 서부지방, (교회당의) 서쪽
adj. - 서쪽의, 서양의, 서부의
adv. - 서쪽에

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 西インド諸島人, 西, 西部地方, 米国西部, 西洋, 西側
adj. - 西の, 西部の, 西からの
adv. - 西に

idioms:

• West Indian    西インド諸島の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الغرب (صفه) غربي (ظرف) غربا‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מערב‬
adj. - ‮מערבי, מערבה, במערב, למערב, ממערב‬
adv. - ‮במערב, מערבה, מערבית ל-‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.