An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/osten

by Friedrich Kluge

osten, adv., from MidHG. ôsten, ôstene, ‘in, to, or from the east,’ OHG. ôstana, ‘from the east,’ so too AS. eástene, ‘in the east,’ eástan, ‘from the east,’ OSax. ôstan, ôstana, ‘from the east’; OHG. and OSax. ôstar, ‘to the east.’ The stem austa- (in OIc. austr, gen. austrs, m.), on which these words are based, is undoubtedly connected with the OAryan term for ‘dawn’; primit. Aryan *ausôs, Sans. ušâs, Lat. aurôra (for *ausôs-a), Gr. ἠώς, Lith. auszrà, ‘dawn.’ Since, in other instances, the names for the periods of the day have been applied to the cardinal points, e.g., Mittag, Morgen, &c., the dawn might be used for the east, especially as Morgen in UpG. signifies ‘east’ (in UpG. the old terms for the cardinal points are almost obsolete). Comp. also Ostern.