different between east vs erst

English

Etymology

From Middle English est, from Old English ?ast, from Proto-Germanic *austr?, from Proto-Indo-European *h?ews-.

Compare West Frisian east, Dutch oost, German Ost, Norwegian Nynorsk aust, Swedish öst.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i?st/, enPR: ?st
• Rhymes: -i?st

Noun

east (countable and uncountable, plural easts)

1. One of the four principal compass points, specifically 90°, conventionally directed to the right on maps; the direction of the rising sun at an equinox. Abbreviated as E.
   • 1895, Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure

     In a few hours the birds come to it from all points of the compass – east, west, north, and south […]

Coordinate terms

• (compass points)

Derived terms

Translations

Also see Appendix:Cardinal directions for translations of all compass points

Adjective

east (not comparable)

1. Situated or lying in or towards the east; eastward.
2. (meteorology) wind from the east
3. Of or pertaining to the east; eastern.
4. From the East; oriental.
5. (ecclesiastical) Designating, or situated in, that part of a church which contains the choir or chancel.

   the east front of a cathedral

Synonyms

• (situated or lying in or towards the east): eastward
• (meteorology: wind from the east): easterly
• (of or pertaining to the east): eastern
• (from the East): oriental

Antonyms

• (situated or lying in or towards the east): westward
• (meteorology: wind from the east): westerly
• (of or pertaining to the east): western

Translations

Adverb

east (not comparable)

1. towards the east; eastwards

Synonyms

• (towards the east): eastwards

Antonyms

• (towards the east): west. westwards

Translations

Anagrams

• AEST, ESTA, SEAT, Seat, TEAs, eats, etas, sate, saté, seat, seta, tase, teas

Estonian

Noun

east

1. elative singular of iga

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *austr?, from Proto-Indo-European *h?ews- (“eastern”). Cognate with Old Frisian ?st, Old Saxon ost, Dutch oost, Old High German ?st, German Osten, Old Norse austr. The Indo-European root is also the source of Latin auster (“southerly”) and aurora (“dawn”), Latvian austrumi (“easterly”), Albanian ag (“dawn, early morning; black mark round the eyes”), Proto-Slavic *utro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æ???st/

Noun

?ast m

1. the east

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: est
  • English: east
  • Scots: eist, aist
• ? Old French: est
  • French: est
    • ? Asturian: este
    • ? Catalan: est
    • ? Corsican: este, est
    • ? Galician: leste
    • ? Italian: est
    • ? Occitan: èst
    • ? Portuguese: este, ? leste
    • ? Romanian: est
    • ? Spanish: este

Adjective

?ast

1. eastern, easterly

Declension

Adverb

?ast

1. from the east
2. towards the east

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian ?st, from Proto-Germanic *austr?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.?st/

Adjective

east

1. east, eastern, easterly

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “east”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Noun

east n (plural [please provide])

1. east

Further reading

• “east”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Noun

east c (plural [please provide])

1. east, eastern former colonies

Further reading

• “east”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

English

Alternative forms

• arste
• yerst (dialectal)

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?st/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??st/

Etymology 1

From Middle English erste, from Old English ?resta (“first”), from Proto-West Germanic *airist (“earliest, first”), equivalent to ere +? -est. Cognate with North Frisian eerst, ærst (“first”), West Frisian earst (“first”), Dutch eerste (“first”), German erste (“first”).

Adjective

erst (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) First.

Etymology 2

From Middle English erst, arst, erest, from Old English ?rest (“first, erst, at first, before all”), from Proto-West Germanic *airist(?) (“erst”). Cognate with Scots erst (“erst”), Dutch eerst.

Adverb

erst (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) First of all, before (some other specified thing).
   • 1567, Arthur Golding, Ovid's Metamorphoses, book 2, line 691:

     Consider what I erst have been and what thou seest me now:

2. (obsolete) Sooner (than); before.
3. (archaic, poetic) Formerly, once, erstwhile.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 12:

     When lofty trees I see barren of leaves

     Which erst from heat did canopy the herd

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:erst.

Derived terms

• erstwhile

Anagrams

• 'rest, -estr-, -ster, -ster-, ERTs, REST, Rest., SERT, TERs, estr-, rest, rest., rets, tres

German

Etymology

See the numeral erster.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e?rst/, [?e???st], [????st]

Adverb

erst

1. first, at first
2. only (with progress, accomplishments or the present time)

3. not until, not for, not before (with reference to a point or period of time in the future)

4. only, as recently as (with reference to the past)

5. short for erstmal

Usage notes

• With reference to time periods and moments, the opposite of erst is schon. Erst emphasizes how long it is until something happens or how recently it has happened, whereas schon how soon in the future or far in the past. Thus:

  erst in drei Wochen = "not for three weeks" [and that seems so far away]

  schon in drei Wochen = "in only three weeks" [and I'm glad I don't have to wait any longer]

• With reference to progress and the like, erst emphasizes how young or short, while schon emphasizes how old or long. Thus:

  Sie ist erst 28 Jahre alt  = "She's only 28" [and yet she has so many accomplishments/she looks so much older, etc.]

  Sie ist schon 28 Jahre alt = "She's already 28" [but it seems only yesterday that she was a little girl]

Synonyms

• (1.) zuerst

Related terms

• erster

Further reading

• “erst” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Old Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?e?rst/, [???rst]

Adjective

?rst

1. Alternative form of ?rest

References

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, ?ISBN