western

See also: Western

English

Alternative forms

• Western

Etymology

From Middle English westerne, from Old English westerne, from Proto-Germanic *westrōnijaz.

By surface analysis, west +‎ -ern.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛstɚn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛstən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛstə(ɹ)n
• Hyphenation: west‧ern

Adjective

western (comparative more western, superlative most western or westernmost)

1. Of, facing, situated in, or related to the west.

   the western approaches

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […] , down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.

2. Of a wind, blowing from the west; westerly.
3. Occidental.
   • 2008, Helen Gilhooly, chapter 1, in Complete Japanese‎^[1], →ISBN, page 31:

     Japanese is traditionally written downwards (tategaki) and you begin reading from the top right of a page. This means that books are opened from what we would consider to be the back. Nowadays, however, books, newspapers and magazines are often written western style, in horizontal lines (yokogaki) from left to right and, in these cases, the book is opened from our (western) understanding of the front.

Derived terms

• Australian Western Standard Time
• Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma
• Great Western
• Mid-Western
• pale western cutworm
• pro-Western
• scrumpy and western
• South Western Slopes
• western action shooting
• Western Armenia
• western Asia
• Western Australia
• western barn owl
• western black-eared wheatear
• Western Bloc
• western blot analysis
• western boubou
• Western Bug
• Western Canadian Select
• Western Cape
• western capercaillie
• western cattle egret
• Western chess
• western chinquapin
• Western Creek
• western diamondback rattlesnake
• Western Downs
• western duck sickness
• westerner
• Western European Time
• western fence lizard
• Western Ghats
• western gorilla
• Western Greece
• western grey kangaroo, western gray kangaroo
• western hemisphere
• western hemlock
• western honey bee
• western honey mesquite
• Western Junction
• western marsh harrier
• western mastiff bat
• Western Mound
• Western New Guinea
• Western Norway
• western olivaceous warbler
• western omelet
• western Orphean warbler
• western osprey
• Western Palearctic
• Western Palestine
• Western parotia
• Western pattern diet
• western pleasure
• western plum
• western poison ivy
• western poison oak
• western prickly juniper
• western pygmy blue
• western rat snake
• western redbud
• western red cedar
• western red lily
• Western Region
• western roe deer
• western sandpiper
• western slaty antshrike
• western spindalis (Spindalis zena)
• western spinebill
• western spotted skunk
• western spruce budworm
• western subalpine warbler
• Western sugar maple
• western sugar maple
• western sulphur
• western taipan
• western tanager
• western world
• western xenica
• western yellow pine
• western yellow wagtail

Descendants

• → Russian: ве́стерн (véstern)
  • → Kazakh: вестерн (vestern)
• → Serbo-Croatian: вестерн
• → Ukrainian: ве́стерн (véstern)

Translations

pertaining to the west

• Albanian: perëndimor (sq)
• Arabic: غَرْبِيّ (ḡarbiyy)
• Armenian: արևմտյան (hy) (arewmtyan)
• Azerbaijani: qərbi, qərb (az)
• Belarusian: захо́дні (zaxódni)
• Bengali: পশ্চিমা (bn) (pościma), পশ্চিমী (pościmi)
• Bulgarian: за́паден (západen)
• Burmese: အနောက် (my) (a.nauk)
• Catalan: occidental (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 西方的 (xīfāng de), 西 (zh) (xī)

• Czech: západní (cs)
• Danish: vestlig (da)
• Dutch: westelijk (nl), westers (nl)
• Esperanto: okcidenta
• Estonian: lääne-, läänelik (et)
• Finnish: länsi-, läntinen (fi) (concretely), länsimainen (fi) (culturally or politically)
• French: occidental (fr) m
• Galician: occidental (gl) m or f
• Georgian: დასავლური (dasavluri), დასავლეთის (dasavletis)
• German: westlich (de), West-
• Greek: δυτικός (el) (dytikós)

  Ancient Greek: δυτικός (dutikós)

• Gujarati: આથમણું (āthamṇũ)
• Hebrew: מַעֲרָבִי (he) (ma'araví)
• Hindi: पश्चिमी (hi) (paścimī)
• Hungarian: nyugati (hu)
• Icelandic: vestur (is)
• Ingrian: länsiin
• Irish: thiar, an iarthair
• Italian: occidentale (it)
• Japanese: 西の (にしの, nishi no), 西方の (せいほうの, seihō no)
• Kazakh: батыс (batys)
• Khmer: ខាងលិច (khaang lɨc)
• Korean: 서쪽의 (ko) (seojjogui)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: rojavayî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: батыштык (ky) (batıştık), батыш (ky) (batış)
• Lao: ຕາເວັນຕົກ (tā wen tok)
• Latin: occidentalis (la) m or f, occidentale n
• Latvian: rietumu
• Lithuanian: vakarinis, vakarų
• Macedonian: западен (zapaden)
• Malayalam: പടിഞ്ഞാറൻ (ml) (paṭiññāṟaṉ)
• Māori: māuru
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vestlig (no), vestre (no)

  Nynorsk: vestleg, vestre

• Occitan: occidental (oc)
• Pashto: غربي (ps) (ǧarbi)
• Persian: غربی (fa) (ġarbi)
• Polish: zachodni (pl)
• Portuguese: ocidental (pt)
• Romanian: vestic (ro) m or n, occidental (ro) m or n, apusean (ro) m or n
• Russian: за́падный (ru) m (západnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: siar, an iar
• Serbo-Croatian: zapadnjački (sh) m

  Cyrillic: за̑паднӣ

  Latin: zȃpadnī (sh)

• Slovak: západný (sk)
• Slovene: zahoden
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: please add this translation if you can

  Upper Sorbian: zapadny (hsb)

• Spanish: occidental (es), oesteño
• Swedish: västlig (sv)
• Tajik: ғарбӣ (ġarbi)
• Tatar: көнбатыш (tt) (könbatış)
• Telugu: పడమటి (te) (paḍamaṭi)
• Thai: ตะวันตก (th) (dtà-wan-dtòk)
• Turkish: batı (tr), batısal
• Turkmen: günbatar
• Udmurt: ӝытпал (džytpal)
• Ukrainian: за́хідний (uk) (záxidnyj)
• Urdu: مَغْرِبی (ur) (maġribī), غَرْبی (ur) (ġarbī)
• Uyghur: غەربىي (gherbiy)
• Uzbek: gʻarbiy (uz)
• Vietnamese: tây (vi)
• Volapük: vesüdik (vo), vesüdänik (vo)
• Welsh: gorllewinol (cy)
• Yiddish: מערבֿדיק (mayrevdik)

blowing from the west

• Armenian: արևմտյան (hy) (arewmtyan)
• Dutch: westelijk (nl)
• Finnish: länsi-, läntinen (fi)
• Georgian: დასავლეთის (dasavletis), დასავლეთიდან (dasavletidan)
• Norwegian: vestlig (no)
• Polish: zachodni (pl)
• Portuguese: ocidental (pt)
• Russian: за́падный (ru) m (západnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: zapadni (sh) m
• Swedish: västanvind (sv)
• Turkish: batı (tr), batısal

Noun

western (plural westerns)

2. (Should we move, merge or split⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (film) A film, or some other dramatic work, set in, the historic (c. 1850–1910) American West (west of the Mississippi river) focusing on conflict between whites and Indians, lawmen and outlaws, ranchers and farmers, or industry (railroads, mining) and agriculture.

   Synonyms: horse opera, oater

   Coordinate term: northern

Derived terms

• acid western
• kangaroo Western
• meat-pie Western
• spaghetti western

Translations

film or other dramatic work

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} غَرْبِيّ m (ḡarbiyy), وِيسْتَرْن (wēstarn), الْغَرْب (ar) m (al-ḡarb), فِيلْم غَرْب أَمْرِيكِيّ m (fīlm ḡarb ʔamrīkiyy)
• Armenian: վեստերն (hy) (vestern)
• Azerbaijani: vestern
• Belarusian: ве́стэрн m (vjéstern), вэ́стэрн m (véstern)
• Bulgarian: уе́стърн m (uéstǎrn)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 西部片 (zh) (xībùpiàn), 西部電影 / 西部电影 (xībù diànyǐng)

• Czech: western (cs) m
• Danish: westernfilm c, western c
• Dutch: western (nl) m; cowboyfilm (nl) m, wildwestfilm (nl) m (film); wildwestverhaal (nl) n (story)
• Finnish: lännenfilmi (fi) (film); lännentarina (story); länkkäri (fi) (any dramatic work)
• French: western (fr) m
• Georgian: ვესტერნი (vesṭerni)
• German: Western (de) m
• Greek: γουέστερν (el) n (gouéstern)
• Hebrew: מַעֲרָבוֹן m (ma'arávon)
• Hindi: वॅस्टर्न (vĕsṭarn)
• Hungarian: westernfilm (hu)
• Icelandic: vestri m
• Irish: iartharán m
• Italian: western (it) m
• Japanese: 西部劇 (せいぶげき, seibugeki), ウエスタン (uesutan), ウェスタン (wesutan)
• Khmer: កុនខោវប៊យ (kon khaowbɔɔy)
• Korean: 서부극(西部劇) (ko) (seobugeuk), 웨스턴 (weseuteon), 서부영화(西部映畫) (ko) (seobuyeonghwa)
• Latvian: vesterns m
• Lithuanian: vesternas m
• Macedonian: вестерн m (vestern)
• Māori: pikitia kaupoai
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: western (no) m, villvestfilm m, westernfilm m

  Nynorsk: western m, villvestfilm m, westernfilm m

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: وِسْتِرْن (vestern)

• Polish: western (pl) m
• Portuguese: faroeste (pt) m, bangue-bangue (pt) m (Brazil, colloquial)
• Russian: ве́стерн (ru) m (vɛ́stɛrn)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вѐстерн m, каубојски филм m, каубо́јац m

  Latin: western m, vèstern (sh) m, kaubojski film m, kaubójac (sh) m

• Slovak: western m, indiánka f
• Spanish: western (es) m
• Swedish: västern (sv) c, western (sv) c, västernfilm (sv) c
• Ukrainian: ве́стерн m (véstern)
• Urdu: ویسْٹَرْن (vesṭarn)

See also

• northern
• eastern
• southern

• north-eastern
• south-eastern
• south-western
• north-western

Anagrams

• enstrew

Cebuano

Etymology

From English western, from Old English westerne, from Proto-Germanic *westrōnijaz.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: wes‧tern

Noun

western

1. (film) a western

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English western.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɛs.tərn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: wes‧tern

Noun

western m (plural westerns, no diminutive)

1. western (work set in the Old West) [from early 20th c.]

Derived terms

• westernfilm
• westernverhaal

Finnish

Etymology

< English western

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋestern/, [ˈʋe̞s̠te̞rn]
• Rhymes: -estern

Noun

western

1. western (film or other dramatic work set in American West)

   Synonyms: länkkäri, lännenfilmi

Declension

Inflection of western (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		western	westernit
genitive		westernin	westernien
partitive		westerniä	westernejä
illative		westerniin	westerneihin
		singular	plural
nominative		western	westernit
accusative	nom.	western	westernit
	gen.	westernin
genitive		westernin	westernien
partitive		westerniä	westernejä
inessive		westernissä	westerneissä
elative		westernistä	westerneistä
illative		westerniin	westerneihin
adessive		westernillä	westerneillä
ablative		westerniltä	westerneiltä
allative		westernille	westerneille
essive		westerninä	westerneinä
translative		westerniksi	westerneiksi
abessive		westernittä	westerneittä
instructive		—	westernein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of western (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative westernini westernini accusative nom. westernini westernini gen. westernini genitive westernini westernieni partitive westerniäni westernejäni inessive westernissäni westerneissäni elative westernistäni westerneistäni illative westerniini westerneihini adessive westernilläni westerneilläni ablative westerniltäni westerneiltäni allative westernilleni westerneilleni essive westerninäni westerneinäni translative westernikseni westerneikseni abessive westernittäni westerneittäni instructive — — comitative — westerneineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative westernisi westernisi accusative nom. westernisi westernisi gen. westernisi genitive westernisi westerniesi partitive westerniäsi westernejäsi inessive westernissäsi westerneissäsi elative westernistäsi westerneistäsi illative westerniisi westerneihisi adessive westernilläsi westerneilläsi ablative westerniltäsi westerneiltäsi allative westernillesi westerneillesi essive westerninäsi westerneinäsi translative westerniksesi westerneiksesi abessive westernittäsi westerneittäsi instructive — — comitative — westerneinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative westernimme westernimme accusative nom. westernimme westernimme gen. westernimme genitive westernimme westerniemme partitive westerniämme westernejämme inessive westernissämme westerneissämme elative westernistämme westerneistämme illative westerniimme westerneihimme adessive westernillämme westerneillämme ablative westerniltämme westerneiltämme allative westernillemme westerneillemme essive westerninämme westerneinämme translative westerniksemme westerneiksemme abessive westernittämme westerneittämme instructive — — comitative — westerneinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative westerninne westerninne accusative nom. westerninne westerninne gen. westerninne genitive westerninne westernienne partitive westerniänne westernejänne inessive westernissänne westerneissänne elative westernistänne westerneistänne illative westerniinne westerneihinne adessive westernillänne westerneillänne ablative westerniltänne westerneiltänne allative westernillenne westerneillenne essive westerninänne westerneinänne translative westerniksenne westerneiksenne abessive westernittänne westerneittänne instructive — — comitative — westerneinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative westerninsä westerninsä accusative nom. westerninsä westerninsä gen. westerninsä genitive westerninsä westerniensä partitive westerniään westerniänsä westernejään westernejänsä inessive westernissään westernissänsä westerneissään westerneissänsä elative westernistään westernistänsä westerneistään westerneistänsä illative westerniinsä westerneihinsä adessive westernillään westernillänsä westerneillään westerneillänsä ablative westerniltään westerniltänsä westerneiltään westerneiltänsä allative westernilleen westernillensä westerneilleen westerneillensä essive westerninään westerninänsä westerneinään westerneinänsä translative westernikseen westerniksensä westerneikseen westerneiksensä abessive westernittään westernittänsä westerneittään westerneittänsä instructive — — comitative — westerneineen westerneinensä

Further reading

• “western”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 14 May 2026

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English western.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛs.tɛʁn/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

western m (plural westerns)

1. western (film genre)

Further reading

• “western”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Hungarian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English western.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɛstɛrn]
• Hyphenation: west‧ern
• Rhymes: -ɛrn

Noun

western (plural westernek)

1. western (film genre)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	western	westernek
accusative	westernt	westerneket
dative	westernnek	westerneknek
instrumental	westernnel	westernekkel
causal-final	westernért	westernekért
translative	westernné	westernekké
terminative	westernig	westernekig
essive-formal	westernként	westernekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	westernben	westernekben
superessive	westernen	westerneken
adessive	westernnél	westerneknél
illative	westernbe	westernekbe
sublative	westernre	westernekre
allative	westernhez	westernekhez
elative	westernből	westernekből
delative	westernről	westernekről
ablative	westerntől	westernektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	westerné	westerneké
non-attributive possessive – plural	westernéi	westernekéi

Possessive forms of western

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	westernem	westernjeim
2nd person sing.	westerned	westernjeid
3rd person sing.	westernje	westernjei
1st person plural	westernünk	westernjeink
2nd person plural	westernetek	westernjeitek
3rd person plural	westernjük	westernjeik

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English western.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛs.tern/
• Rhymes: -ɛstern
• Hyphenation: wè‧stern

Noun

western m (invariable)

1. western (film genre)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English western.

Noun

western m (definite singular westernen, indefinite plural westerner, definite plural westernene)

1. a western (film or movie, novel)

Derived terms

• spagettiwestern
• westernfilm

See also

• country and western

References

• “western” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “western” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English western.

Noun

western m (definite singular westernen, indefinite plural westernar, definite plural westernane)

1. a western (film or movie, novel)

Derived terms

• spagettiwestern
• westernfilm

See also

• country and western

References

• “western” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

English westernubor.

Polish western

Unadapted borrowing from English western.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛs.tɛrn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛstɛrn
• Syllabification: wes‧tern

Noun

western m inan (related adjective westernowy)

1. western (adventure film set in the Wild West in the 19th century)

Declension

Declension of western

	singular	plural
nominative	western	westerny
genitive	westernu	westernów
dative	westernowi	westernom
accusative	western	westerny
instrumental	westernem	westernami
locative	westernie	westernach
vocative	westernie	westerny

Related terms

nouns

• westernizacja

verbs

• westernizować impf
• zwesternizować pf

Further reading

• “western”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “western”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)
• western in PWN's encyclopedia

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English western.

Noun

western n (plural westernuri)

1. western film

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	western	westernul	westernuri	westernurile
genitive-dative	western	westernului	westernuri	westernurilor
vocative	westernule		westernurilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English western.

Noun

western m (plural westerns)

1. misspelling of wéstern

Swedish

Alternative forms

• västern

Noun

western c

1. a western (movie)

Derived terms

• spaghettivästern (“spaghetti western”)

References

• “western”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “western”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “western”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)