East is one of the four cardinal directions, the direction where the sun rises each morning. If you stand facing the sunrise, you're looking east.

East matters enormously in navigation and geography. For centuries, travelers, explorers, and sailors used the sunrise to orient themselves. If you know where east is, you can figure out all the other directions: north is to your left, south to your right, and west behind you. Even today, hikers use the sun's position to find their way when they don't have a compass.

The word also describes regions and places. The East Coast refers to the eastern side of the United States, where cities like New York and Boston sit along the Atlantic Ocean. People speak of the Middle East, a region east of Europe. During the Cold War, Americans referred to communist countries in Eastern Europe as “the East,” contrasting them with “the West.”

When something moves eastward, it travels toward the east. Wind blowing from the east is an easterly wind. In stories and poetry, the east often symbolizes new beginnings since that's where each day starts, though the direction itself is determined by Earth's rotation and the sun's apparent path across our sky.