ESEAP

Proper noun

East (countable and uncountable, plural Easts)

1. Any of various particular regions named for the cardinal direction in which they lie.
   • […] I sat down and wrote, / In such a hand as when a field of corn / Bows all its ears before the roaring East; […]1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part I”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 23
   1. The Eastern world; the regions, primarily situated in the Eastern Hemisphere, whose culture is derived from Arabia, India, Persia or China.
      • I remember a hearty welcome; a prodigious supper, which would have fed a whole village in the East; […]1868 January 4 – June 6, [William] Wilkie Collins, “Second Period. The Discovery of the Truth. (1848–1849.) […] [Third Narrative. Contributed by Franklin Blake.]”, in The Moonstone. A Romance. […]...
   2. The Eastern Bloc; the eastern countries of Europe.
   3. (historical) the Soviet Union and its socialist allies during the Cold War.
   4. (historical) The Eastern Roman Empire.
   5. That part of the Christian Church whose traditions and practices originated in the former territories of the Eastern Roman Empire, including the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Oriental Orthodox Church, and Church of the East.
      • The words may suggest that the Roman rite is in some way superior to those of the East: a fallacy now equally reprobated by Rome.1947, Archdale A. King, “Preface”, in The Rites of Eastern Christendom, volume I, Rome: Catholic Book Agency, page XI

See all 19 meanings of east