| 释义 |
▪ I. west, adv., n.1, and a.|wɛst|
Forms: 1– west (1 wæst), 3 Orm. wesst, 3–7 weste (5 Sc. veste), Sc. 5, 7–9 wast, 6–7 weast(e, (6 Sc. weist, weyst, 7 Sc. vaist).
[Com. Teutonic: OE. west adv. = OFris. west (WFris. west, NFris. wêst, wâst), OS. -west (in north-, sûthwest; MLG. and LG., MDu. and Du. west), OHG. west- (G. west), ON. and Icel. (with r- suffix; cf. austr east, etc.) vestr (MSw. väster, Sw. vester); MSw. väst (rare), Norw., Sw., Da. vest (prob. after LG.); not recorded in Gothic. The primitive Germanic stem *wes-t- appears to be an extension of the *wes- found in Gr. ἕσπερος, ἑσπέρα, L. vesper, vespera evening, west. In HG. dialects abend is similarly used for ‘west’.
In OE. west occurs only as an adv., the use as noun and adj. being a later development. In the cognate languages it is usually (in some exclusively) a noun in the earlier periods, the adverbial use coming later, and the adjectival being represented only by the first element in compounds (OE. west- in west-dǽl, etc.).
The fact that the Romanic forms for ‘east’ (F. est, etc.) have been adopted from English indicates that this, rather than any other Germanic language, is also the source of F. ouest (OF. west), Sp. and Pg. oeste.]
A. adv. Towards or in the direction of that part of the horizon where the sun sets.
1. a. With reference to movement, extension, or direction.
In Sc. (and Anglo-Irish) use freq. added to verbs of going or coming to indicate the general direction: see quots. under (b).
(a) O.E. Chron. an. 886 Her for se here eft west þe ær east ᵹelende. 944Charter of Eadmund in Birch Cartul. Sax. II. 541 Þonne west andlang weᵹes on ðone lytlan beorᵹ. c995Battle of Maldon 97 Wodon þa wælwulfas,..west ofer Pantan. 1033in Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 45 Of ðam herpaðe west..on ðone stan; of ðon stane west..on Fiducforda. c1205Lay. 1278 Heo ferden forð & eeuer heo drowen west & norð. c1350Libeaus Desc. 1068 (Kaluza) Whan sche was take wiþ gile, He fliȝ for greet perile West into Wirhale. c1440York Myst. xxxvii. 333 Sattan..I schall walke este and weste, And garre þame werke wele werre. 1489Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 116 A man to pass to Edinburgh to haist the gunnis west. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 35 b, Where it weneth to go eest, it gothe west. 1581Borough Discourse Var. Cumpas (1585) G j, The course set downe from Sillie to Cape Raso is due West. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. i. 145 There lies your way, due West. 1724De Foe Tour Gt. Brit. I. iii. 1, I intended once to have gone due West this Journey. 1760R. Rogers Jrnls. (1769) 197 We..kept the following courses:..west-by-north one mile, west two miles. 1848B. Webb Cont. Ecclesiol. 480 If the basilica orientated west. Ibid. 484 The remaining three..have their altars facing due west. 1859H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxv, Splendid pastures, which stretch west farther than any man has been yet. 1892Kipling Barrack-room Ballads etc., L'Envoi, It's North you may run to the rime-ringed sun..Or West to the Golden Gate.
(b)a1724Ew-bughts, Marion 32 in Ramsay Tea-t. Misc., And soon as my chin has nae hair on, I shall come west, and see ye. c1730Burt Lett. N. Scot. viii. (1754) I. 181 He told us we must go West a Piece (though there was no Appearance of the Sun) and then incline to the North. 1887A. S. Swan Gates of Eden i. 14 Weel a weel, tell them I'll come wast when I'm ready.
b. In special applications: (a) to go west, of the sun; also fig., to die, perish, disappear. (b) To America, or to the Western States.
Also (c) in Highland Sc. and Anglo-Irish use freq. rendering Gael. siar, iar (= west, back) in the sense of ‘back’, ‘away’, ‘up’, or ‘down’.
The immediate source of the modern use in (a), which became common during the Great War, has not been established.
(a)c1400Laud Troy Bk. 13365 For hit was nyght, the sonne goth west. c1500Chaucer's L.G.W. 61 (Trin. Camb.) Assone As the son gynneth go west. 15..Poems Gray MS. vi. 42 (S.T.S.) 55 Women and mony wilsome wy as wynd or wattir ar gane west. 1915E. Corri Thirty Yrs. Boxing Referee 2, I shall once again be in the company of dear old friends now ‘gone West’. 1919J. B. Morton Barber of Putney ix, ‘All the Lewis guns gone west,’ someone said. 1919Blackw. Mag. Sept. 368/2 Their parcels..went persistently ‘west’. 1925Cole Death of Millionaire vi. 57 Wilson sighed. ‘There's valuable evidence gone west’, he said. ‘It may be hard to pick up the trail now.’
(b)1839Mrs. Kirkland New Home xviii. 122, I could not help thinking that one must come ‘west’ in order to learn a little of everything. 1851J. L. B. Soule in Terre Haute Express (Hoyt) Go West, young man! Go West. 1878W. Nash Oregon 6 After some debate we settled to go West by the Pennsylvania railroad, going South..to Philadelphia, and thence West by way of Pittsburg. 1879W. Saunders Through Light Cont. 35 ‘Go West, young man,’ was Horace Greeley's advice, and West I went accordingly.
(c)1893W. R. Le Fanu 70 Yrs. Ir. Life vii. (ed. 2) 90 ‘Why didn't you wash the back of your neck?’ ‘'Twas too far west, my lady.’.. ‘'Tis not a cold I have at all..'tis a fly that's gone west in my stomach.’
2. a. With reference to place or location.
c888ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §13 Se..æfensteorra, þonne he bið west ᵹesewen, þonne tacnað he æfen. a900O.E. Chron. an. 894 Þa he þa wið þone here þær wæst abisᵹod wæs. 971Blickl. Hom. 129 Ᵹerusalem..is west þonon from þære stowe on anre mile. c1200Ormin 12125 Þa fowwre daless alle Þatt æst, & Wesst, & Suþ, & Norrþ Þiss middellærd bilukenn. a1250Owl & N. 923 East & west, souþ & norþ, I do wel fayre my mester. c1310in Wright Lyric P. xviii. 59 Whether y be south other west. c1350Libeaus Desc. 2128 Est, west, norþ and souþe, Be maistris of har mouþe Many man couþ þey schende. 14..Sailing Directions (Hakl. Soc. 1889) 18 Londay and the old hede of Hindilforde lye west and by north. 1559Cuningham Cosmogr. Glass 172 Fiue Ilandes..Of which that whiche is most west, is called properlye Ebuda. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 459 Where it [Suffolk] lieth West and toward Cambridge⁓shire. a1626Bacon New Atlantis 14 The Phœnicians..had great Fleetes. So had the Carthaginians their Colony, which is yet further West. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 379 One of the Islands which lay West. a1788Burns Ploughman 9, I hae been east, I hae been west. 1890Hardwicke's Sci.-Gossip XXVI. 256 Another imaginary line so many degrees east or west of the meridian of Greenwich. 1905H. G. Wells Kipps ii. v. §1 We shall have a nice little flat somewhere, not too far west.
b. Followed by of.
1577Harrison England ii. i. 49 b/1 in Holinshed, The Kenet ryseth aboue Ouerton, v or vj myles west of Marle⁓borow. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 19 West of this Forrest, scarcely off a mile, In goodly forme, comes on the Enemie. 1728[see westerling]. 1784Filson Kentucky 22 Lees town is west of Lexington. 1807Southey Espriella's Lett. II. 219 The Lakes..lay south-west, and west of Keswick. 1875Ruskin Morn. in Florence i. 5 A few hundred yards west of you..is the Baptistery of Florence.
c. U.S. In the West, out West. (Cf. C. 3 b.)
1888Howells Annie Kilburn xi. 126 One of 'em married West, and her husband left her.
3. With modifying addition (in senses 1 and 2), as west by south, etc. Also west-north-west, -south-west.
1577Harrison England ii. i. 48 b/1 in Holinshed, The Winrush..meeteth wyth the Isis west by south of North⁓more. 1760R. Rogers Jrnls. (1769) 197 We..then steered..west-by-south two miles, west-by-north four miles.
4. Sc. Ellipt. as prep.
a. At, in, or to the west of.
b. Towards the west along (a road, etc.).
1587Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 480/2 Insuper creavit dictum Burgum de Anstruther super occidentali torrentis (west the burne). 1589Ibid. 573/1 Strekand west the hie streit to the dyk. 1728Ramsay Monk & Miller's Wife 48 But step ye west the Kill A Bow-shot, and ye'll find my Hame. Mod. I saw him rinnin' wast the road. He bides wast the toun.
B.
1. quasi-n. = C.
c1200Ormin 11258 All þiss middellærd iss ec O fowwre daless dæledd, Onn æst, o Wesst, o Suþ, o Norrþ. a1300Cursor M. 22139 Fra est to west, fra north to soth, He sal do mak his sarmun cuth. a1300K. Horn 1177 (Camb. MS.) Ihc habbe go mani Mile, Wel feor bi ȝonde weste. c1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §15 A longe croys in 4 quarters from est to West, fro sowth to north. c140026 Pol. Poems xxiv. 208 Lord, whenne þou comest to deme so Al þe world be fyre, boþe est and west. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxiv. 23 Thocht he this warld had eist and west, All wer pouertie but glaidness. 1575A. Fleming Virg. Bucol. ii. 67 Th' increasing shadowes doubleth the sunne going downe at West. 1577D. Settle Frobisher's Voy. B iij, Wee..followed our course between West and Northwest, vntill the 4. of Iulie. 1611Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 471 The Romaine Eagle From South to West, on wing soaring aloft Lessen'd her selfe. 1648T. Shepard Clear Sun-shine of Gosp. 30 A brighter day..wherein East & West shall sing the song of the Lambe. 1674Sir J. Moore Math. Compend. 93 From West to East the account is by degrees and parts, or by hours. 1789S. Shaw Tour W. Eng. 444 The principal street extending from east to west is remarkably paved. 1819Keats Song Four Faeries 45 So you sometimes follow me To my home, far, far, in west. 1847Tennyson Princess ii. 64 Our statues!—not of those that men desire,..Nor stunted squaws of West or East. 1892Kipling Barrack-room Ballads etc. 75 Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. 1904H. Belloc Old Road 31 Sea-going vessels..would have calm water..so long as the wind was south of west.
2. by west:
†a. In the west; on the west side; also westward of. Obs.
13..K. Horn 5 (Harl.) Kyng he wes by weste. c1300― 1366 (Laud) He woneþ alby weste. c1305St. Kenelm 18 in E.E.P. (1862) 48 Temese into þe est see, & seuerne bi weste. c1315Shoreham vii. 64 By weste hy grendeþ, alle þyse, And comeþ aȝen þer hy aryse. a1400Minor Poems Vernon MS. (1901) 696 As I wandrede her bi weste ffaste vnder a forest syde. c1470Golagros & Gaw. 419 Quhare wourschip walkis be west. a1550Leland Itin. (1764) III. 7 A Castel a Mile by West from Markesin. 1577Harrison England ii. i. 50/1 in Holinshed, The Weie or the Waye rising by west, cometh from Olsted. Ibid. 53/2 By west of Auterton point also lyeth another hauen. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. vi. 22 Not farre away, but little wide by West, His dwelling was.
†b. As a compound prep.: On the west side of, to the west of (see by prep. 9 c). Also fig. (quot. 1612). Obs.
c1275Lay. 2136 Camber hafde al him seolf bi weste Seuarne. 14..Sailing Directions (Hakl. Soc. 1889) 16 And by west belille and Ortingere southwest. 1482Rolls of Parlt. VI. 203/1 In Southe Wales, by west the blak Montayne. 1525in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1527, 96/1 Nixt befor Sanct Michaelis altar be West the said altar. 1612Davies Why Ireland etc. (1787) 177 Whereupon grew that bye-word used by the Irish, viz. that they dwelt by west the law, which dwelt beyond the river of the Barrow. 1661Lamont Diary (Maitl. Club) 139 The Earle of Weyms be⁓ganne to bueld a new harbory for shipping, a little be west Saltgreine. 1714R. Smith Poems of Controv. (1853) 2 Let all be-west the Spittel come.
c. Naut. Indicating certain points of the compass (see by prep. 9 b).
14..Sailing Directions (Hakl. Soc. 1889) 14 Huschaunt and the pople hope lien north and by west south. Ibid. 20 For cause of that Rok ye must go north and by west. 1598W. Phillip tr. Linschoten i. xciii. 165 We held our course..from thence south West and by West, vnto the cape de Bona Speranza. 1762Falconer Shipwr. ii. 242 South and by west the threatening demon blew.
3. Bridge. (With capital initial.) The player sitting opposite and partnering East, and having South to his right.
1926[see east n. 4]. 1958Listener 2 Oct. 541/1 West was a good enough player to have a chance of succeeding. 1974Country Life 3 Oct. 975/1 Warned off Hearts and Clubs, West had to lead a Spade or a Diamond.
C. n. (Usually with the.)
1. a. That one of the four cardinal points which lies opposite the east and at right angles to the north and the south; that part of the horizon or of the sky which is near the place of the sun's setting.
in the west, of the wind, = blowing from the west.
c1180Newminster Cartul. (Surtees) 118 Inde versus le West per viridem viam. a1225Ancr. R. 94 Ase is þe sunne gleam, þet smit from east into þe west. c1290Brendan 48 in S. Eng. Leg. 221 We comen to a watur..þat euere fram-ward þe est, toward þe west it drovȝ. c1305St. Kenelm 13 in E.E.P. (1862) 48 Engelond..is..two hondred [miles] brod iwis Fram þe est in to þe west. 1382Wyclif Exod. x. 19 The Lord..made blow the moost hidows wynde fro the west. 1387Trevisa Higden I. 45 Þe lengþe of þe erþe þat men woneþ ynne from þe est to þe west, þat is from Ynde to Hercules is pilers. c1400Mandeville (1839) v. 46 Toward the West, is the Contree of Coston. a1450Mirk's Festial 294/28 Þan is hys hed leyde into þe west and hys fette into þe est. 1526Tindale Luke xii. 54 When ye se a cloude ryse out off the west, strayght waye ye saye: we shall have a shewer. 1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. 42 Leauing open a space for twoo doores, a fore doore and a backe doore, but so, as neyther of them open to the West. 1614E. Wright Dialling C 2, Your face being turned towards the North, your right hand sheweth the East, your left hand the West. 1667Dryden Ind. Emp. v. ii, I in the Eastern Parts, and rising Sky, You in Heav'ns Downfal, and the West must lie. 1712J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northampt. 422 Pikes..never bite more freely, than when the Wind is in the West. a1723Bingham Antiq. Chr. Ch. xi. vii. §6 In renouncing the Devil they had their Faces to the West. a1748Watts Summer Evening 5 Now the fair traveller's come to the west,..He paints the sky gay, as he sinks to his rest. 1805Scott Last Minstr. iii. xxiv, Her blue eyes sought the west afar. 1848B. Webb Cont. Ecclesiol. 156 A rood,..between which and the communion-table was a small prayer-desk facing the west, i.e. the people. 1876Bridges Growth of Love xxix, I travel to thee with the sun's first rays, That lift the dark west and unwrap the night. 1925J. Metcalfe Smoking Log, etc. 116 When the wind was in the west.
transf. and fig.1613Donne Epithal. 181 May never age, or error overthwart With any West, these radiant eyes, with any North, this heart. 1649C. Wase Sophocles, Electra 47 O joyfull day! Thou hast restord our light, Wrapt up in constant night, In one continu'd West. 1655Fanshawe Camoens' Lusiad i. xxxii. 7 But now he fears that Glorie's neer it's West, In the black Water of Oblivion.
b. That quarter which with regard to the speaker or some particular place lies in a westerly direction.
1537Registr. Aberdon. (Maitl. Club) I. 412 His tenment lyand in Auld Abirdene afornent þe cors of þe samynge one þe weist. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 448 A Sunny hill..Back'd on the North and West by a thick wood. 1773Noorthouck Hist. Lond. 597 Cordwainers-ward..is bounded..on the west by Bread-street-ward. a1857Kemble Horæ Ferales (1863) 25 The Lithuanians of Prussia on the west.
c. Followed by of.
1613R. Zouche Dove B 6 b, Aboue Iudæa, bord'ring on the West Of great Armenia, lesser Asia lyes. a1660Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.) I. 152 The armie marched to Bellaghnegrege on the weaste of Aleage. 1715tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 318 According as the Meridian of the one lies to the East or to the West of the Meridian of the other. 1789S. Shaw Tour W. Eng. 563 To the west of this..lies Overton. 1834Ainsworth Rookwood iv. ii, Harrow-on-the-Hill..lying to the west of the green on which they walked.
2. spec.
a. The western part of the world. Now commonly, Europe as distinguished from Asia.
c1205Lay. 1231 Bi-ȝende France i þet west þu scalt finden a wunsum lond. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2 Engelond his.. Iset in þe on ende of þe worlde as al in þe west. 1382Wyclif Matt. viii. 11 Manye shulen come fro the est and west. c1420Anturs of Arth. 703 Waynour gared wisely write in þe west, To al þe religious to rede and to singe. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. i. 154 All the wealthy Kingdomes of the West. 1613R. Zouche Dove B 4, First Bacchus..set vp trophees in the conquer'd East: Oh would he had gone on as he begunne, And neuer turned to subdue the West! 1761Gray Desc. Odin 63 In the caverns of the west. 1784Cowper Task vi. 811 Eastern Java there Kneels with the native of the farthest west. 1802Wordsw. Extinction of Venetian Rep. 2 Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee; And was the safeguard of the west. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 348 He never yet had set his daughter forth Here in the woman-markets of the west, Where our Caucasians let themselves be sold. 1892Kipling Barrack-room Ballads etc. 188 The Lords of Their Hands assembled; from the East and the West they drew. 1902A. S. Hurd Naval Efficiency 109 In the West there seems to be an impression that the fleet of Japan is a mere matter of show.
b. The western portion of the Roman world after its division into two empires in a.d. 395.
1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist., Socrates Schol. vi. i. 360 When y⊇ Emperour Theodosius had departed this life..his sonnes tooke in hand the gouernment of the Romaine empire. Arcadius ruled the East and Honorius the West. 1610R. Field Fifth Bk. Ch. xxxv. 194 The Bishop of Rome..called a Synode of al the Bishops of the West. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxiii. (1787) III. 327 Honorius, emperor of the West. 1790Priestley Gen. Hist. Chr. Ch. II. 332 Having seen what was doing in the East, let us now turn our eyes towards the West, where Valentinian governed. 1840Milman Hist. Chr. ii. viii. II. 207 Of the persecution under Severus there are few, if any, traces in the West. 1865Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. iii. (1866) 27 Odoacer..resolved to..extinguish the title and office of Emperor of the West.
c. The western parts of Europe.
1916J. Buchan Nelson's Hist. War XIII. 121 A strong offensive in the West might induce the Allies to make a premature counter-attack.
3. The western part of a country, region, or area; spec.
a. of England, Great Britain, Scotland, or Ireland.
14..Trevelyan Papers (Camden) 67 The Boor' is farr in to the west, That shold vs helpe wt shild and sper'. 15..Ladye Bessie (Percy Soc.) 53 When thou rydest into the weste, I pray the take noe companye But such as shall be of the beste. 1631Heywood (title) The Fair Maid of the West. 1651J. Nicoll Diary (Bannatyne Club) 54 Thir ministeris..held thair awin secreit meetingis in the west. 1666Earl of Orrery St. Lett. (1742) 158 From Kingsale I intend to go to Bandon to settle that town, and all the West. 1693–4Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 248 Letters from the west say, our Streights fleet are clear of the Lands End. 1731Flying Post 10 Aug. 2/1 Edinburgh... The Earl of Aberdeen is set out for the West to visit his daughter. a1734Wodrow Collect. Lives Reformers (1834) I. 109 Mr. Willock was appointed..Superintendant of the West. 1793Coleridge Sonn. River Otter 1 Wild streamlet of the West! 1836Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 465 My purpose is to..take Cuthbert with me into the West by way of Bristol. 1841Lever O'Malley xii, He was peaceably taking his departure from the West on Saturday. 1869A. Macdonald Love, Law & Theol. xii. 189 The aunt..resided in the vicinity of the capital of the west [i.e. Glasgow].
b. The western States of North America.
Formerly the country west of the original thirteen states, now usually taken to mean the country west (or north-west) of the Mississippi River. Sometimes limited, as The Far West, Middle West. See also Wild West.
1796G. Washington in Claypoole's Amer. Daily Advertiser 19 Sept. 2/2 The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort. 1829Everett Orat. & Sp. (1850) I. 203, I have made a journey of between three and four thousand miles in the west. 1837Peck Gaz. Illinois Introd. p. vi, No state in the ‘Great West’ has attracted so much attention..as that of Illinois. 1855Putnam's Monthly Mag. Apr. 380/2, I am disgusted with the West. If ever you catch me at large, anywhere west of the Alleghanies, again, you may shoot me. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 165 The States west of the Mississippi continue to be called the West. 1878H. H. Vivian Notes Tour Amer. 101 Omaha is the last city of the West. After you pass it you are in the ‘Far West’—in the State of Nebraska. 1886F. M. Crawford Tale Lonely Parish v, In the mining districts of the West, in up-country stations in India.
c. The western part of a specified country, etc.
1613R. Zouche Dove B 5, The west of Asia, once Earths Paradice. 1789S. Shaw (title) A Tour to the West of England. 1838Dowling Introd. Eccl. Hist. 37 The political and social condition of the west of Europe. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xxxvii, Pretty nigh all over the West of England.
ellipt.1894C. Vickerman Woollen Spinning 232 Our super west cloths are all tender..when finished. [Ibid. 271 A plain super west of England cloth.]
d. The West End of London.
1823W. T. Moncrieff Tom & Jerry iii. iii, Let the West boast of their highflyers as they will, you'll find there are still some choice creatures of society left here. 1871A. Austin Golden Age 34 In one brief hour behold him curled and drest, And borne on wings of fashion to the West!
e. (With capital initial). The non-Communist states of Europe and America.
1946H. Nicolson Diary 22 Aug. (1967) 75 He is convinced that the Russians wish to dominate the world... The only way in which the West can counter this is to pool their philosophy of liberalism, put up a united front. 1951, etc. [see east n. 2 b]. 1957Ann. Reg. 1956 228 Some 5,000 citizens a week continued to flee to the West. 1964M. McLuhan Understanding Media (1967) ii. 40 Competitive sports between Russia and the West. 1979T. Benn Arguments for Socialism i. 38 It is not only in the West that Marxism is seen as one of the main sources of democratic socialist philosophy.
4. Ch. Hist. The Catholic Church in the Western Roman Empire and countries adjacent to it; the Roman or Latin Church.
1586[? J. Case] Praise Mus. ix. 94 Look vpon the East and the West, the Greeke and Latine Churches, and you shall finde this to be true. 1652E. Sparke Scint. Altaris 4 Do not all the golden Fountains of the Fathers (both of the East and West, the Greek and Latine Church) flow with the same streams? 1790Priestley Gen. Hist. Chr. Ch. II. 314 Though the bishops of the West had been deceived at Ariminum, they had all abjured the blasphemies of that council. 1850Neale Hist. Eastern Ch. I. Introd. 9, I shall constantly reckon among the Saints those whom the Eastern Church, whether with or without the consent of the West, so accounts. 1877J. D. Chambers Div. Worship 233 According to the universal custom of the West, this water should be cold.
5. a. The west wind.
1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. v. 133 They have reckoned two other windes, the East of summer, and the East of winter, and by consequence, two Weasts. 1725Pope Odyss. xii. 478 Now out flies The gloomy West, and whistles in the skies. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xxi, Dark rolling like the ocean-tide, When the rough west hath chafed his pride. 1865Swinburne Poems & Ballads Ser. i. 128 As roses, when the warm West blows, Break to full flower.
b. A westerly direction of the wind.
1842Dickens Amer. Notes xvi, Some nautical authority had told me a day or two previous, ‘anything with west in it, will do’.
D. adj.
1. a. Lying towards the west; situated at or in the west; western, westerly. † Of a planet: Seen in the western part of the sky (tr. L. occidentalis).
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paul) 70 Syne Nero In þe weste partis has lattyn hym go. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ix. xxiv. (1495) 361 A weste sterre that hyghte Vesperus. c1400Mandeville (1839) v. 44 At Marrok, upon the West See, duelte the Calyffee of Barbaryenes. c1460Oseney Reg. 176, j. rodde of Arable londe vppon Otehulle at forthsheter, þat is to say, the more weste Rodde. 1482Rolls of Parlt. VI. 204/1 Grete part of the Westbordures of Scotlande. a1550Leland Itin. (1764) III. 9 The very Westeste Pointe of Cornewaulle. Ibid. 46 The Est and the West Gates be now the fairest. 1577D. Settle Frobisher's Voy. title, A true reporte of the laste voyage into the West and Northwest regions. Ibid. B viij, On this West shoare we found a dead fishe floating. 1789N. Portlock Voy. 314 There is anchorage to the Northward of the West point of Morotoi. 1895‘P. Hemingway’ Out of Egypt ii. 185 The west sky grew pale and gold.
b. Of western Europe, as opposed to the east; esp. belonging to the Roman or Latin church; = western 4. Now rare or Obs.
1553Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 141 b, The Occidentall or weast Churches thorow out all Europe. 1565Harding Answ. Jewel's Challenge 86 b, Yet had they of that nation their Seruice then in Latine, as all the West churche had. 1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist., Socrates Schol. v. xxiv. 358 In the West empire there was one Eugenius, [etc.]. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. iv. xi. §12 The West Church vsing vnleauened bread, as the Iewes in their passouer did. 1628Bp. Hall Old Relig. xii. 116 The most eminent Diuines of both East and West Churches.
c. spec. the West Bank, a region west of the River Jordan and north-west of the Dead Sea which became part of Jordan in 1948 and was occupied by Israel in the Arab–Israeli War of 1967; hence West Banker, an inhabitant of the West Bank; † west isles, the western isles of Scotland; † west world, the new world, America.
1587Harrison Descr. Eng. i. x. 39/1 in Holinshed, The Iles that lie about the north coast of..Scotland..are either occidentals, the west Iles, [etc.]. 1613S. Daniel 1st Pt. Hist. Eng. 5 As now, we see all the West world (lately discouered) to bee. 1967Times 3 Aug. 16/7 Making the Israeli pound legal tender side by side with the Jordanian dinar on the Israeli-occupied West bank should go a long way towards increasing imports of goods from Britain. Ibid. 10 Aug. 7/1 Even those Israelis who would gladly abandon Sinai, Gaza and the West Bank would prefer to keep the Syrian heights overlooking the Sea of Galilee. 1968N.Y. Times 22 Dec. iv. 4/6 The many interviews given by King Hussein who often refers to granting more self-government to the West Bankers. 1972Guardian 10 Apr. 11/3 Hussein..is seeking to prevent disaffected West Bankers..from reversing their links with the Hashemite throne. 1978Internat. Relations Dict. (U.S. Dept. State Library) 35/2 These groups rejected..the establishment of a Palestinian state on the West Bank. 1983‘J. le Carré’ Little Drummer Girl ii. 32 Miss Bach had been talking wistfully of taking up the wagon-trail life of a West Bank settler.
d. Of or pertaining to the west.
1572Twyne Dionysius' Surv. World B vj b, Two winds,.. the Hesperian or Sicilian wynde, whiche is West, and the Southeaste, whiche bloweth from the sea Aegæum. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 549 All the West Allies of stormy Boreas blow. 1900H. S. Holland Old & New 97 Whether East or West, we all with one consent excuse ourselves from our responsibilities.
2. With proper names:
a. Denoting the western part of a country, district, etc., or the more westerly of two places having the same name.
1470–85Malory Arthur v. ii. 162 The lord of westwalis promysed to brynge xxx M men. 1530–1Act 22 Hen. VIII, c. 17 §10 In West Depyng or Est Depyng yn the countie of Lyncoln. 1645Boate Irel. Nat. Hist. (1652) 6 East-Meath and Catherlogh or Carlo..West-Meath, Kildare, Kilkenny, [etc.]. 1646R. Baillie Lett. (Bannatyne Club) II. 388 The French are like this year to have very bad successe, both in Italie, Spaine, and West Flanders. 1714in Jrnl. Friends Hist. Soc. (1918) 27, I..set forward through west and East Jarsey. 1794Morse Amer. Geog. 566 The principal town in West Florida is Pensacola. 1811Willan (title) A List of Ancient Words at present used in the mountainous district of the West Riding of Yorkshire. 1886T. L. Kington-Oliphant New Engl. I. 44 The term wench is used in the honourable sense of the West Midland.
b. Denoting the western division of a race, nation, or people. West Briton: † (a) a native of Wales; (b) a native of Ireland; in mod. use, (chiefly derogatory) one who favours a close political connection with Great Britain; hence West Britonism. Cf. West Saxon.
1561J. Daus Bullinger on Apoc. lxi. 430 The Westegothes possessed all Spayne. 1712P. Leigh Life S. Wenefride 46 Whatever this incredulous Age may think of..our Saint's Return to Life; it appear'd so evident to the West Britains..that many Pagan People..came..to receive Baptism. 18..T. C. Luby Life & Times O'Connell 342/1 Thomas Spring Rice..was probably the first Irishman who nicknamed himself ‘a West Briton’. 1816J. Giffard Let. to Sir Robert Peel 19 Mar. (Brit. Library Add. MSS. 40,253, f. 258), The periphrastic Title of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland..goes out of its way—to remind people that they were once disunited and to keep them so—had the whole been called by one common name Britain—we should have had the Inhabitants proud of the glorious Title Britons and we West Britons would have been as much conciliated and attached as the North Britons are. 1836D. O'Connell in J. O'Connor Hist. Ireland 1798–1924 (1925) I. vii. 226 The people of Ireland are ready to become portion of the Empire, provided they be made so in reality and not in name alone; they are ready to become a kind of West Britons, if made so in benefits and justice; but if not, we are Irishmen again. 1909J. Barlow Irish Ways 3 Not to believe in, at least, fairies, argues you a west-Briton, if nothing worse. 1910D. Hyde in R. M. Dorson Peasant Customs (1968) II. 718 The men who..while protesting..against West Britonism, have helped..to assimilate us to England and the English. 1918West Britonism [see shoneen]. 1925in J. O'Connor Hist. Ireland 1798–1924 II. xxiv. 368 The American friends of Irish liberty are both grieved and resentful at some of the recent exhibitions given there of the revival of West Britonism. 1944Joyce Stephen Hero xvii. 54 No West-Briton could speak worse of his Countrymen. 1960C. C. O'Brien Shaping of Mod. Ireland 19 When Moran and his friends talked of West Britons they had in mind, I imagine, some archetype of a dentist's wife who collected crests, ate kedgeree for breakfast and displayed on her mantelpiece a portrait of the Dear Queen. 1962B. Inglis West Briton viii. 143, I never heard of West Briton being used except pejoratively. 1972C. C. O'Brien States of Ireland iv. 77 Protestant loyalists—that is to say, most Protestants—also came inevitably under attack, usually as West Britons.
c. With ns. and adjs. derived from the names of countries, districts, or peoples.
1614Selden Titles Honor 80 Kings of West-gothique bloud. 1824Collier & MacCarthy (title) West-African sketches. 183.Graves Rom. Law in Encycl. Met. (1845) II. 765/1 A manuscript of the Westgothic compilation, called the Breviarium Aniani. 1848Gould Birds Australia I. Pl. 18 West-Australian Gos-Hawk. 1852Henfrey Veget. Eur. 169 Thus we get four sections of Germanic plants, viz.:..c. the west-Germanic. 1863Irish People 5 Dec. 24/3 The West-British press chimed in. 1865R. F. Burton Wit & Wisdom from W. Afr. iii. 121 The practical selfishness and feelinglessness of the wild West African, who, when, tamed by slavery, becomes one of the most tender of men. 1877Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 363 The West African River Shrew. 1925J. O'Connor Hist. Ireland 1798–1924 II. xxiv. 373 People dance the same dances as were the fashion in the old West-British days. 1950New Yorker 16 Sept. 83/1 They [sc. the Germans] think that German rearmament is inevitable, and suggest that a sort of Foreign Legion..be activated immediately, in which all West European men willing to go to war against Communism could volunteer. 1958Listener 11 Dec. 977/2 He [sc. Herr Brandt] is coming gradually to symbolize for many West Berliners their determination to remain free. 1969A. Marin Rise with Wind (1970) vi. 75 Clay sank into a chair, his eyes fixed coldly on the West German. 1973Times 27 Nov. 9/1 (heading) Fewer West Berliners visit the East. 1976W. Laqueur in D. Villiers Next Year in Jerusalem 86 The non-Jewish Jew is a specifically West European phenomenon. 1976M. Birmingham Heat of Sun iii. 34 To build a house in his home town, to which all West Africans dream of retiring. 1981J. Johnston Christmas Tree 114 It wasn't that I objected to De Valera's neutrality... I had no political feelings of being West British..no Crown fever. 1983Spectator 14 May 8/1 It is unsettling to find a pillar of West German industry collecting Nazi memorabilia.
d. With abstract ns. derived from the ns. and adjs. of prec. sense.
1895Dundalk Examiner 24 Aug. 2/6 A slogan cry which would..sound the death-knell of ascendancy and West Britishism in this country? 1971J. Spencer Eng. Lang. W. Afr. 28 There is certainly a sufficiency of terms and expressions peculiar to the use of English in this region to justify the term West Africanism. 1980English World-Wide I. i. 76 AVE [sc. African Vernacular English] is..characterized by a vocabulary adapted to its environment, which shows itself in oft-quoted West Africanisms.
3. Eccl. Situated in or at that part of a church (normally the actual west) which is farthest from the altar or high altar.
1412Catterick Ch. Contract (1834) 9 The lenght of the body of the Kirke..with the thicknes of the west walle. a1700Evelyn Diary Aug. (end) 1641, There hang near the West window [of the church] two modells of shipps. 1773Noorthouck Hist. Lond. 629 The west front [of St. Paul's] is graced with a most magnificent portico. 1818Rickman Engl. Archit. 72 The west doors of York are of the richest execution. Ibid. 92 The west window of St. George's, Windsor, has fifteen lights in three divisions. 1896Hardy Under Greenw. Tree Pref., The Mellstock choir and its old established west-gallery musicians.
4. Facing to the west.
1593T. Fale Horolog. 7 b, The making of the East and West Erect Dials. 1638S. Foster Art of Dialling 13 Those plaines are called East and West incliners, whose horizontall line lyeth full North and South, and their inclination is directly towards either East or West. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. vii. 167 In a West-window in summer time towards night, the Sun grows low. 1832Planting (Libr. Usef. Knowl.) 26 The soil of the nursery must be..under a south, east, or west exposure.
E. In combination:
a. with vbl. ns. and ppl. adjs. as † west-coming; west-facing, west-going, † west-walling adjs.
1592in Maitl. Club Misc. I. 53 That thai report testimoniall heirintill agane thair first west cuming in this cuntrey. 1595Markham Trag. Sir R. Grinvile xxxiv, The great west-walling boisterous sea. 1866Good Words 1 June 390/1 During the first two days we passed upwards of a hundred west-going waggons. 1898Contemp. Rev. Aug. 181 A long..west-facing gallery.
b. with advbs., as west-about, west-away.
1579in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1581 73/1 Thairfra passand west about as the new stank braa lyis. 1891Century Dict., West-about adv., around toward the west; in a westerly direction. 1818Scott Rob Roy xxvii, Will onybody..grumble at the treaty that opened us a road west-awa' yonder? 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxx, If you sailed right west away far enough, you'd surely come to the edge, and fall over cleve. 1875Anderida II. xi. 195 Three ships ran down the coast westaway.
c. With adjs., as west-central a., belonging to the western half of the central postal division of London.
1860All Year Round No. 66. 372 A small street off one of the west-central squares. 1865‘Annie Thomas’ On Guard II. 265 The show-room of the west-central Mantalini for whom she worked.
▸ West Brit n. derogatory (chiefly Irish English) a native of the Republic of Ireland who favours a close political or cultural connection with Great Britain (cf. West Briton n. (b) at D. 2b).
1985Amer. Hist. Rev. 90 420/1 Morrissey's biography provides a sympathetic picture of a type of Irishman who was later to be stigmatized in ‘Irish-Ireland’ circles as a ‘*West Brit’. 1997J. Hawes Rancid Aluminium (1998) vi. 85 Deeny was..what is called in Ireland a West Brit; one of those types who even in his deepest unconscious is not entirely sure of his allegiances. 2001S. MacGowan in V. M. Clarke & S. MacGowan Drink with Shane MacGowan vi. 252 He was a West Brit, y'know. Only West Brits play cricket for Ireland anyway.
▪ II. west, n.2 Obs. exc. dial.|wɛst|
[Of obscure origin.]
A sty or inflammatory swelling on the eyelid.
1569R. Androse tr. Alexis' Secr. iv. i. 4 To heale a West that riseth vpon the eye liddes. 1705Lond. Gaz. No. 4185/4 A down Look, having a West in one of his Eyes. 1847Halliwell. 1899C. K. Paul Memories 250, ‘I have a west coming in my eye’.
▪ III. west, v.|wɛst|
Also 4 weste.
[f. west adv.]
intr. To move towards the west. Chiefly of the sun: To draw near to the west, to sink in the west.
c1381Chaucer Parl. Foules 266 On a bed of gold sche lay to reste Tyl that the hote sunne gan to weste. c1385― L.G.W. 61 Whanne the sunne be-gynnys for to weste. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. Introd. viii, 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. 1607T. Walkington Optic Glass 162 Phœbus beginneth low to west. 1807J. Barlow Columb. x. 213 From Mohawk's mouth, far westing with the sun, Thro all the midlands recent channels run. 1888Doughty Arabia Deserta I. 443 The sun at length westing to the valley brow. 1889in F. W. H. Myers Human Personality (1903) II. 340 A ship going round the world making east all the way would gain a day, and by westing would lose one.
▪ IV. west
obs. Sc. f. vest v.; obs. pa. tense and pple. of wit v.1 |