EASTERN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does eastern mean? 

• EASTERN (adjective)
  The adjective EASTERN has 5 senses:

1. lying toward or situated in the east

2. of or characteristic of eastern regions of the United States

3. lying in or toward the east

4. relating to or characteristic of regions of eastern parts of the world

5. from the east; used especially of winds

  Familiarity information: EASTERN used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EASTERN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lying toward or situated in the east

Context example:

the eastern end of the island

Similar:

east (situated in or facing or moving toward the east)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or characteristic of eastern regions of the United States

Context example:

the Eastern establishment

Similar:

east-central (of a region of the United States generally including Kentucky, West Virginia)

mid-Atlantic; middle Atlantic (of a region of the United States generally including Delaware; Maryland; Virginia; and usually New York; Pennsylvania; New Jersey)

northeastern (of a region of the United States generally including the New England states; New York; and sometimes New Jersey and Pennsylvania)

southeastern (of a region of the United States generally including Alabama; Georgia; Florida; Tennessee; South Carolina; North Carolina)

Attribute:

East; eastern United States (the region of the United States lying to the north of the Ohio River and to the east of the Mississippi River)

Antonym:

western (of or characteristic of regions of the United States west of the Mississippi River)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lying in or toward the east

Synonyms:

easterly; eastern

Context example:

eastern cities

Similar:

east (situated in or facing or moving toward the east)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Relating to or characteristic of regions of eastern parts of the world

Context example:

the Eastern religions

Similar:

oriental (denoting or characteristic of countries of the Far East)

Attribute:

East; Orient (the countries of Asia)

Antonym:

western (relating to or characteristic of the western parts of the world or the West as opposed to the eastern or oriental parts)

Sense 5

Meaning:

From the east; used especially of winds

Synonyms:

easterly; eastern

Context example:

the winds are easterly

Similar:

east (situated in or facing or moving toward the east)

 Context examples 

Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status test code.

(CDISC Questionnaire ECOG Test Code Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status test name.

(CDISC Questionnaire ECOG Test Name Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

An herbal remedy made from the dried root of Chamaelirium luteum, a lily native to the eastern and southern parts of North America.

(Chamaelirium luteum Root, NCI Thesaurus)

An Australian-administered island in the eastern Indian Ocean south of Java, Indonesia.

(Christmas Island, NCI Thesaurus)

A state in south eastern Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula.

(Campeche, NCI Thesaurus)

Here and there, some early lamps were seen to twinkle in the distant city; and in the eastern quarter of the sky the lurid light still hovered.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Finds from the early years of the ivory trade were mostly from the eastern lineage.

(Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests, University of Cambridge)

In a La Niña year, the opposite happens: Cool sea surface temperatures dominate in the eastern tropical Pacific.

(Ocean temperatures may hold key to predicting tornado outbreaks, NOAA)

Forests in the eastern United States that are structurally complex — the arrangement of vegetation is varied throughout the physical space — sequester more carbon, according to a new study.

(Structural complexity in forests improves carbon capture, National Science Foundation)

The aromatic root of the perennial herb Panax quinquefolius, native to eastern North America.

(American Ginseng, NCI Thesaurus)