eastwardadv.adj.n.
/ˈiːstwəd/, U.S. /ˈis(t)wərd/ A. adv. In an easterly direction, towards the east.
1. With reference to direction, motion, or extent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > East > [adverb]
easteOE
eastwardsOE
eastwardOE
easterly1466
easternly1598
eastwardly1615
east-about1807
eastwise1845
mornward1849
mornwards1855
OE Ælfric Interrogationes Sigewulfi in Genesin (Corpus Cambr. 162) xxi, in Anglia (1884) 7 14 Ðas seofon tunglan gað æfre easwerd ongean þa heofonan, ac seo heofon is strengra, & abret hi ealle underbæc westward mid hire ryne.
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 998 Her wende se here eft eastweard into Frommuðan.
OE Bounds (Sawyer 360) in S. Miller Charters of New Minster, Winchester (2001) 19 Of horweges norð ende andlang weges eastweard on ðone smalan pæð.
c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. A) l. 31 Þonne biþ þe [fei]ȝe iflut to þen flore; He biþ eastward istreiht [i.e. buried with feet pointing east].
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 971 Þis picars hom wende euere vorþ, estward euere vaste.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 8149 (MED) In þe firmament..Hii sey A long suerd red as fur, the point ssarp inou, & ouer painime estward þat point..drou.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. i. l. 14 (MED) Esteward ich byhulde after þe sonne.
a1450 York Plays (1885) 241 (MED) Whedir is he walked, Estewarde or weste?
1482 Monk of Evesham 36 Thenne went we yestewarde.
c1500 Quare of Jelusy 20 Myn eye estward..I cast, Quhare as I saugh among the levis grene A lady.
a1525 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 157 Than he strekis estwart to pas to the les Asya.
1553 R. Eden in tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India Pref. sig. Aij Sayling Eastward by the coastes of Aphrica.
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Kings xvii. 3 Get thee hence, and turne thee Eastward . View more context for this quotation
1699 in C. J. Hoadly Public Rec. Colony of Connecticut (1868) IV. 304 Running eastward three hundred rod to a rock-oak tree markt.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 17 The Plague..began now to come Eastward.
1781 W. Cowper Truth 98 Turn eastward now, and fancy shall apply To your weak sight her telescopic eye.
1814 J. Playfair Outl. Nat. Philos. II. i. ix. 155 Ten of the stars have motions eastward, peculiar to themselves.
1893 R. S. Ball In High Heavens xii The so-called heat-wave then seems to have travelled eastward.
1924 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 581/1 They turned eastward..keeping to the..little beaches.
1960 Deep-sea Res. 6 204 The postulated Median Valley along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge swings eastward around South Africa.
2008 Ecologist July–Aug. 39/2 El Niño causes warm water to move eastward so the Pacific Ocean releases more heat.
2. With reference to place, location, or relative position.
ΚΠ
OE Acct. Voy. Ohthere & Wulfstan in tr. Orosius Hist. (Tiber.) (1980) i. i. 15 Þæt byne land is easteweard bradost & symle swa norðor swa smælre; eastewerd hit mæg bion syxtig mila brad oþþe hwene brædre; & middeweard þritig oððe bradre; & norðeweard, he cwæð, þær hit smalost wære, þæt hit mihte beon þreora mila brad to þæm more.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 183 (MED) Gallia conteyneþ al þe reame of Fraunce and meny oþer contrayes and londes anone to þe Ryne norþward, to þe Roon estward.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 2388 (MED) Aurora estward doth a-dawe.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 718 A doughtyr the fayreste That tho was in that lond Estward dwellynge.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ezek. xl. 10 The chambers of the dore eastwarde, were thre on euery side.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. ii. 137 Eastward of the apothecaries dwell the needle-makers.
1665 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 122 West-Friezland..lyeth Eastward obnoxious to Westphalen in High-Germany.
1720 H. Cornwall Observ. Several Voy. India 16 Two Miles Eastward of the River is a Saddle Hill somewhat reddish.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 166 Eastward of this lake, lie several small ones, which extend in a string to the great carrying place.
a1817 J. L. Burckhardt Notes on Bedouins (1830) 17 In the sandy plain S. of the Akabe el Shamye and eastward of the Hadj route.
1865 R. Burton in Sel. Papers (1924) 97 The lands lying eastward of the Gaboon river-head.
1905 T. Robinson in J. Wilson Victoria Hist. Cumberland II. 407 The Eden Fishery Board..prohibited whemmle or drift nets eastward of the Solway Viaduct.
1924 A. D. H. Smith Porto Bello Gold ix. 117 We were on the la'b'd tack, clawing off to work eastward of the island's mass.
1999 C. Thubron In Siberia (2000) iii. 61 We were following the line eastward of the Trakt post road, the precursor of the Trans-Siberian.
B. adj.
Situated in or directed towards the east; lying, facing, moving, etc., towards the east. In Old English also: †situated in the eastern part or side of something (obsolete).In Old English frequently used postpositively.Apparently unattested between the Old English period and the 15th cent. (except in Middle English recensions of Old English material).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > East > [adjective]
eastereOE
easteOE
eastwardeOE
easterlyOE
eastenlOE
easterna1398
orientalc1425
orient?c1450
Levant1601
easternly?a1606
eastwardlya1613
Levantine1649
Eoan1820
eastwards1838
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 892 Se muþa is on easteweardre Cent æt þæs miclam wuda eastende þe we Andred hatað.
eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) xvi. 18 Þeah nu anra hwa ealles wealde þæs iglandes, and eac þonan oð Indeas eastewearde, þeah he nu þæt eall agan mote.
OE Bounds (Sawyer 405) in D. Hooke Pre-Conquest Charter-bounds Devon & Cornwall (1994) 117 On cealdan hlinc westeweardne, þonne on wyrtrum oþ cealdan hlinc easteweardne.
OE Homily: De Sancto Iohanne (Corpus Cambr. 198) in Englische Studien (1885) 8 477 Paradisus is uprihte on easteweard [r] e ðysse worulde.
a1170 ( Bounds (Sawyer 673) in M. Gelling Place-names Berks. (1976) III. 746 Þanon to holan dic eastewearde.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 143/2 Estwarde, Orientalis.
1581 J. Studley tr. Seneca Hercules Oetæus ii, in T. Newton et al. tr. Seneca 10 Trag. f. 193v The dawning day shall sooner make the morning peere in West, Vnto the eastwarde Indians the ysy poale shall melt.
1609 W. Biddulph Trauels Certaine Englishmen 4 Ouer against cape Passera (which is a marke for Marriners at the Eastward end of Sicilia) there is an Iland called Malta.
1686 Deed 21 May in H. W. Richardson York (Maine) Deeds (1888) IV. f. 61 A loose great Stump at the Eastward Corner of the said pasture feild.
a1729 E. Taylor Metrical Hist. Christianity (1962) 321 The eastward Vandalls, whose chiefe tribes we call Polabs, and Obatrits, Kissins.
1776 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad vii. 281 Our eastward bowsprits sought the Indian strand.
1836 D. F. Bacon Lives Apostles of Jesus Christ 386 The first distinct mention made of any eastward movement of Thomas, that can be found, is by Origen.
1885 Liverpool Daily Post 27 Mar. 4/7 The Russians on their side are quietly prosecuting an eastward concentration.
1941 A. C. Bouquet Compar. Relig. v. 66 The possession of a lingua franca..hardly accounts for the eastward spread of Buddhism.
1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King 162 An out-thrust of the eastward hills.
2007 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 12 Apr. 40/2 Newspapers chronicled episodes of hardship and escape all along the eastward path.
C. n. The east; (also) the area to the east of (a thing or place).
1. Without definite article. In later use usually with to.Apparently unattested between the Old English period and the 17th cent. (except in Middle English recensions of Old English material).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > East > [noun]
eastwardeOE
eastc1175
sunrisinga1382
orientc1385
sun-springa1400
eastwarda1450
eastwards?1574
sunristc1600
rising sun1613
aurora1617
morn1647
moonrise1728
morning-land1838
dawning1879
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) ii. i. 36 Þas feower heafodricu sindon on feower endum þyses middangeardes... Þæt Babylonicum wæs þæt forme & on easteweardum.
OE Ælfric Old Test. Summary: Esther (transcript of lost MS) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 92 Asuerus..hæfde cynerice east fram Indian oð Eþiopian lande; þæt is fram easteweardan þissere worulde and suþweardan oð to þam Silhearwum.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xvi. 276 Ond þeah betwuh þyllecum unrihtum wæs him [sc. Nero] no þy læs underþeod eall þes middangeard from easteweardum oþ westeweardne and eft from suðeweardum oð norðeweardne.
c1275 ( Bounds (Sawyer 249) in E. H. Bates Two Cartularies of Benedictine Abbeys of Muchelney & Athelney (1899) 35 Erest on estewarde on Chelkwilles hevod.
c1425 Liber Monasterii de Hyda (Sawyer 845) in S. Miller Charters of New Minster, Winchester (2001) 204 On estward, along the ryuer, fyf furlang [c1425 (OE) on easteweardan, andlang ea, v furlang].
1635 L. Foxe North-west Fox sig. P3 At Midnight having the same depth, the wind was at noone N. northerly, he stood about to eastward 10. Leagues E. N. E.
1699 J. Dickinson Gods Protecting Provid. sig. A2 We being about four Leagues off shoar and about Fifteen leagues to Eastward of the Havana.
a1741 T. Chalkley Jrnl. (1749) 66 This Frederickstadt..was the farthest Place we travelled to Eastward.
1764 New & Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. (ed. 2) III. 2113/2 In Cornwal and Devon, the loads always hold their course from eastward to westward.
1814 Niles' Weekly Reg. 5 Mar. 13/2 In a few hours after re-capturing the Comet, a sail was discovered to eastward, which I felt inclined to avoid.
1860 A. H. Alston Seamanship 187 In north latitudes, the cyclone is travelling from eastward to westward, and in south latitudes, from westward to eastward.
1920 W. A. Anderson South of Suez 117 I rode through the villages that lie from the capital out to eastward.
1941 Daily Express 12 Dec. 2 I want to finish quickly and get well clear to eastward.
1992 B. Unsworth Sacred Hunger xxxv. 380 The tornado that accompanied it came from eastward and attacked with awesome force and fury.
2. With definite article. See also at the eastward at at prep. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > East > [noun]
eastwardeOE
eastc1175
sunrisinga1382
orientc1385
sun-springa1400
eastwarda1450
eastwards?1574
sunristc1600
rising sun1613
aurora1617
morn1647
moonrise1728
morning-land1838
dawning1879
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xxxvii. l. 668 In god they putten here Sekernesse, knelyng a-down vppon here kne Into the Estward ful Sekerle; and there they Maden here preyere.
1555 R. Eden Two Viages into Guinea in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 353 Where the currant setteth alwayes to the eastwarde.
1581 T. Nicholas tr. A. de Zárate Discov. & Conquest Peru iv. sig. C In this Prouince they haue their ydolatrous Temples with their doores to the East warde.
1613 R. Cocks Let. 30 Nov. in A. Farrington Eng. Factory in Japan (1991) I. 96 The 15th of January we sett sayle from Bantam to the eastward.
1695 London Gaz. No. 3099/3 The 17th arrived the Smirna Factor..from the Eastward.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 159 It might..empty it self to the Eastward.
1782 Caledonian Mercury 19 June 4/3 One of that part called Overcotts, terminated by the new road to the eastward.
1814 Moore's Pract. Navigator (ed. 19) 202 If a ship has been sailing to the Eastward, the above two minutes must be added.
1877 Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 438/1 In the afternoon, as we were near the head of Haverstraw Bay, there came a squall from the eastward, and a peeler, too.
1911 J. Muir My First Summer in Sierra 196 To the eastward of our camp grove, stands one of Nature's cathedrals.
1938 Jrnl. Mammalogy 19 295 The terrain has..developed into a badlands type that becomes increasingly more rugged to the eastward.
2006 S. M. Stirling Sky People x. 214 A small river dropped over a steep cuesta a quarter-mile to the eastward.
Compounds
C1.
eastward-flowing adj.
ΚΠ
1824 Universal Rev. Mar. 104 The ice is there permanent, in consequence of an eastward flowing current wedging it in upon the western opening of that strait.
1915 E. Pound Cathay 14 And evening drives them on the eastward-flowing waters.
1993 T. Garrison Oceanography ix. 193/1 Eastward-flowing currents are wider and flow more slowly than their equatorial counterparts.
eastward-looking adj.
ΚΠ
1828 D. M. Moir Life Mansie Wauch 76 The early flush of dawn tinged her eastward-looking lattice with crimson.
1878 W. Black Green Pastures ii. 11 The eastward-looking branches of the great elms.
2001 D. Stanley Fiji 47/1 The 1987 coups had a lot to do with rivalry between the eastward-looking chiefs..and the Melanesian-leaning western Fijians.
eastward-stretching adj.
ΚΠ
1860 J. S. Blackie Lyrical Poems 21 The far red headland, eastward stretching, flouts The keen dry blast.
1911 M. I. Newbigin Mod. Geogr. iv. 90 The long, eastward-stretching, inland sea.
1998 D. T. Liggett & J. A. Mack Real Cool Colorado Places for Curious Kids viii. 65 Beyond the eastward-stretching shadows of Pikes Peak, final rays of sunshine highlight eroded sandstone sediments.
eastward-running adj.
ΚΠ
1914 G. A. J. Cole Growth of Europe viii. 157 The eastward-running rivers.
1997 I. Thompson et al. in B. H. Morrow & V. B. Price Anasazi Archit. & Amer. Design x. 150 The eastward-running berm, we were told, pointed toward another great house that lay beyond the horizon.
C2.
eastward Indian n. North American (now historical) a North American Indian belonging to any of various peoples inhabiting the north-eastern part of the continent, esp. the area corresponding to present-day New Hampshire and Maine.
ΚΠ
1677 W. Hubbard Narr. Troubles with Indians New-Eng. (new ed.) 84 Some that belonged to the Eastward Indians.
1783 Moose Fort Jrnls. 23 Dec. (1953) XVII. 23 The Eastward Indian who came in yesterday..is incapable of returning to his family.
1871 J. R. Brodhead Hist. State N.Y. II. vi. 294 The Mahican and other eastward Indians were also invited to come in, and ‘live under the protection of the Government’, as both Canada and Connecticut had solicited them.
1995 William & Mary Q. 52 20 The eastward Indians who attacked Deerfield in 1704 were primarily Western Abenakis: Pennacooks, Pigwackets, and Cowassucks who lived along the upper reaches of the Merrimack, Saco, and Connecticut rivers.
eastward position n. Christian Church the position of the celebrant standing on the west side of the altar (and so facing east) in the Communion Service.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > kinds of priest > [noun] > celebrating mass > position at altar of
eastward position1864
1864 W. Selwyn Thoughts on Holy Script. 75 This compromise, in brief, would tolerate the Eastward position of the priest at the altar at the expense of vestments.
1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 28 Nov. 7/2 Dean Burgon never would allow the ‘eastward position’ to be adopted in Chichester Cathedral.
1921 M. Baring Passing By 256 She said that the local clergyman was so low—no eastward position.
2004 U. M. Lang Turning towards Lord iii. 111 For the Oxford Movement the eastward position was a crucial element in their efforts to restore the Catholic heritage to the Church of England.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adv.adj.n.eOE