Easterly describes something moving toward the east or coming from the east. When weather forecasters talk about easterly winds, they mean winds blowing from the east toward the west. An easterly direction usually means you're heading east.

If you're sailing and feel an easterly breeze on your face, the wind is coming from the east. A storm system with an easterly track moves from east to west across the map.

You'll often hear easterly in weather reports because wind direction matters: easterly winds bring different weather than westerly ones, depending on where you live. Coastal areas, for instance, get different conditions from easterly winds (blowing off the ocean) than from westerly winds (blowing off the land).

The word can also describe a general eastern location or tendency, though this usage is less common. An explorer might describe heading in an easterly direction through the wilderness, meaning generally east even if not perfectly due east.