West

one of the cardinal points of the compass. The name appears to be related to a group of words denoting an abode or house. West, therefore, seems to have reference to the home of the sun at night. In architecture, the west front of a cathedral is the main portal, situated at the foot of the cross farthest removed from the choir. In American history the West has receded rapidly toward the Pacific. The term was applied to the Ohio Valley, then to the states in the Mississippi Valley, and now it refers more particularly to the section west of the Mississippi, or even to the Pacific States. The word is entirely relative, England is in the west with reference to central Europe.