west

/wɛst/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/wɛst/

west noun: the direction opposite to that of the earth's rotation, specifically 270°.

Image: El Grafo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

west (plural wests)

The direction opposite to that of the earth's rotation, specifically 270°.
- We used to live in the west of the country.
- Portugal lies to the west of Spain.
The western region or area; the inhabitants thereof.
In a church: the direction of the gallery, opposite to the altar, and opposite to the direction faced by the priest when celebrating ad orientem.
- In two respects, however, the cathedral [of St. Mary's in Sydney, Australia] differs from English traditions: it is oriented north-south, not east-west; and its main entry is from the south (liturgical west) between the two towers, in the French manner.1997, John Haskell, John Callanan, Sydney Architecture, UNSW Press, →ISBN
- The seating for honored persons (clergy) is at the liturgical west, opposite the entrance and lectern.2000, Mark L. MacDonald, The Chant of Life: Liturgical Studies Four, Church Publishing, Inc., →ISBN, page 98

Adjective

west (not comparable)

Situated or lying in or toward the west; westward.
Of wind: from the west.
Of or pertaining to the west; western.
From the West; occidental.
Designating, or situated in, the liturgical west, that part of a church which is opposite to, and farthest from, the part containing the chancel.
- Interior in 1925, (left) looking north to chancel and (right) looking south (to liturgical west end) It was on account of this connection that St James's became the clowns 'church', an annual clowns' service being held there ...2008, Philip Temple, Northern Clerkenwell and Pentonville, Paul Mellon Ctr for Studies, →ISBN, page 356
- as in the mosaic of the ascension on San Frediano's liturgical west (geographically east) façade.2017, Stephen Kite, Building Ruskin's Italy: Watching Architecture, Routledge, →ISBN, page 48

Adverb

west (comparative further west or farther west, superlative furthest west or farthest west)

Towards the west; westwards.
- This thoroughfare bears (to the) West.

Verb

west (third-person singular simple present wests, present participle westing, simple past and past participle wested)

(intransitive) To move to the west; (of the sun), to set.
- 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, “Book V, Prologue”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- The ships would leave Europe in April, when there was a good easterly wind. Trans-Atlantic mariners wanted the wind dead on the stern, so they could run with it, sticking to the same latitude—a method called easting and westing. Columbus, Cabot, and many others had done this. Until the eighteenth...1997, Mark Kurlansky, “Chapter 4: 1620: The Rock and the Cod”, in Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, Walker, →ISBN

Proper noun capitalized: West

West (countable and uncountable, plural Wests)

The western world; i.e. the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
- The relationship between China and the West has worsened since U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier this month against Beijing's wishes.2022 August 24, Steve Scherer, Ismail Shakil, “China warns of 'forceful measures' if Canada interferes in Taiwan”, in Tomasz Janowski, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2022, World
(historical) The Western Bloc (the non-communist nations of Europe and America).
- When I came to Washington forty-seven years ago, the predominant issue was ensuring that the United States would step up to the communist threat, both abroad and at home. The ultimate satisfaction is to have lived long enough to see the West defeat communism and begin a new, equally arduous...1994 [1994 March 30], Richard Nixon, “Author's Note”, in Beyond Peace, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 253
(US) The Western United States (sometimes excluding the West Coast), particularly (historical) in reference to the 19th century Wild West.
- I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
(historical) The Western Roman Empire, or its successors.
The part of the Christian Church whose traditions and practices originated in the territories of the former Western Roman Empire, including the Roman Catholic Church and the churches of the Reformation.
- I shall constantly reckon among the Saints those whom the Eastern Church, whether with or without the consent of the West, so accounts.1850, John Mason Neale, A History of the Holy Eastern Church, Part I, London: Joseph Masters, Aldersgate Street, and 78, New Bond Street, pages 8–9
A town in Holmes County, Mississippi, United States.
A city in McLennan County, Texas, United States.
An unincorporated community in Wetzel County, West Virginia, United States.
A number of townships in the United States, in Illinois (2), Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania, listed under West Township.
One of four positions at 90-degree intervals that lies to the west or on the left of a diagram.
(countable) A person (as a bridge player) occupying this position during a specified activity.
(countable) A surname from Middle English for a newcomer from the west, or someone who lived to the west of a village.
- Kanye West took to social media to speak about mental health after a fan claimed that the rapper was “off his meds”.2022 February 11, Peony Hirwani, “Kanye West tells fan who suggested he’s off medication to ‘be more conscious’”, in The Independent

west meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

west in Hindi

compass point: पश्चिम paścim, पश्चिमा paścimā, पच्छिम pacchim, पच्छम paccham, मग़रब maġrab, मग़रिब maġrib

west in Marathi

compass point: पश्चिम paścim
towards the west: पश्चिमेकडे paścimekaḍe

west in Urdu

compass point: مَغْرِب maġrib

More languagesFewer languages

west in Bengali: পশ্চিম pościm
west in Telugu: పడమర paḍamara, పశ్చిమం paścimaṁ, పాశ్చాత్య pāścātya, పశ్చిమ paścima
west in Malayalam: പടിഞ്ഞാറ് paṭiññāṟŭ, പശ്ചിമം paścimaṁ, മേക്ക് mēkkŭ
west in Kannada: ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ paścima
west in Punjabi: ਪੱਛਮ paccham
west in Gujarati: પશ્ચિમ paścim
west in Odia: ପଶ୍ଚିମ paścima
west in Sanskrit: पश्चिम paścima, अपरा aparā
west in Sinhala: බටහිර baṭahira
west in Assamese: পশ্চিম possim
west in Nepali: पश्चिम paścim
west in Pashto: مغرب maǧréb, باختر bāxtár
west in Tagalog: kanluran
west in Arabic: غَرْب ḡarb, مَغْرِب maḡrib, غرب ġarb
west in Malay: barat, kulon, maghrib
west in Indonesian: barat
west in Persian: بَاخْتَر bāxtar, غَرْب ġarb, مَغْرِب maġrib, خْوَرْبَرَان xwarbarān
west in Thai: ทิศตะวันตก tít dtà-wan dtòk, ตะวันตก dtà-wan-dtòk, ประจิม bprà-jim
west in Vietnamese: tây, phía tây, hướng tây
west in Myanmar: အနောက် a.nauk, ပစ္ဆိမ pachci.ma.

Examples of west in a sentence

Thus, the altar is located at the east end of the church, and the gallery, at the west.2014, Paul Porwoll, Against All Odds: History of Saint Andrew's Parish Church, Charleston, 1706-2013, WestBow Press, →ISBN, page 365:
Spence had decided on a huge image of Christ on the [liturgical] east end [which is the geographic north], filling the entire wall and to be visible through the [liturgical] West Window (Fig. 24.2).2019, Sarah Hosking, "Coventry Cathedral", in Prickett Stephen Prickett, Edinburgh Companion to the Bible and the Arts, Edinburgh...
Trans-Atlantic mariners wanted the wind dead on the stern, so they could run with it, sticking to the same latitude—a method called easting and westing.1997, Mark Kurlansky, “Chapter 4: 1620: The Rock and the Cod”, in Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, Walker, →ISBN:

All 40 example sentences with west

Forms of west

Noun
plural	wests
Adverb
comparative	further west
comparative	farther west
superlative	furthest west
superlative	farthest west
Verb
third-person singular present	wests
present participle	westing
past participle	wested
past	wested
Proper noun
plural	Wests

Plural of west: wests

Origin of west

PIE word *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros From Middle English west, from Old English west, from Proto-West Germanic *westr (“western”), from Proto-Germanic *westrą (“west”), from Proto-Germanic *westraz (“west”), from Proto-Indo-European *wek⁽ʷ⁾speros (“evening”). Cognates Cognate with Scots wast (“west”), North Frisian waast, weest, wäst (“west”), Saterland Frisian Wääste (“west”), West Frisian and Dutch west (“west”), German West (“west”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk vest (“west”), Faroese and Icelandic vestur (“west”), Swedish väst, väster (“west”); also with Irish feascar, feasgar (“evening; vespers”), Cornish gorthugher (“evening”), Manx fastyr (“afternoon, evening; vespers”), Scottish Gaelic feasgar (“afternoon, evening”), Latin vesper (“evening”), Ancient Greek ἕσπερος (hésperos, “evening; western”), Latvian vakars (“evening”), Lithuanian vakaras (“evening”), Czech, Slovak and Slovene večer (“evening”), Kashubian wieczór (“evening”), Polish wieczerz, wieczór (“evening”), Russian вечер (večer, “evening”), Serbo-Croatian вече, вечер, veče, večer (“evening”), Armenian գիշեր (gišer, “night”). Compare also Catalan oest (“west”), French ouest (“west”), Galician oeste, ueste...

* In most senses and as an English surname, by proprialization from west. * As a Finnish surname, Americanized from Vesterinen.

Words formed from west

Phrases with west

176 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with west

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about west

What does west mean?: West means the direction opposite to that of the earth's rotation, specifically 270°.
What is west in Hindi?: West in Hindi is पश्चिम (paścim), पश्चिमा (paścimā), पच्छिम (pacchim). See West meaning in Hindi.
How do you use west in a sentence?: Thus, the altar is located at the east end of the church, and the gallery, at the west.
What part of speech is west?: West can be a noun, an adjective, an adverb or a verb.
How do you pronounce west?: West is pronounced /wɛst/.
What is the plural of west?: The plural of west is wests.

Words near west in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: west (page history and authors); West (page history and authors); पश्चिम (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-west.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-west.wav.

Cite this entry: “west.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/west. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.