From PIE *h2ews- (to shine, dawn) — the same root as Latin 'aurora,' Greek 'eos,' and the festival name 'Easter.'
The direction of the sunrise, opposite to west; one of the four cardinal compass points.
From Old English "ēast" (east, eastward), from Proto-Germanic *austrą (east, toward the sunrise), from PIE *h₂ews- (to shine, dawn, the east). This is one of the great cosmological roots of Indo-European, linking direction, time, and divine light. The PIE root *h₂ews- produced the dawn goddess's name across multiple branches: Latin "Aurōra" (goddess of dawn → "aurora borealis"), Greek "Ἠώς" (Ēṓs, goddess of dawn), Sanskrit "Uṣás" (goddess of dawn, celebrated
The holiday 'Easter' derives from the Proto-Germanic dawn-goddess *Austrō (Old English 'Ēostre'), the same root as 'east.' The Venerable Bede wrote in 725 CE that the Anglo-Saxon month of Ēosturmōnaþ (April) was named after her, and her spring festival was absorbed into the Christian calendar.