Westerners

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Inhabitants or citizens originating from countries or regions in the western part of the world, particularly those in North America and Western Europe
2. Individuals who reside in or identify with societies characterized by Western cultural norms, values, and lifestyles
3. People associated with the collective culture, traditions, and practices typical of nations in the Western Hemisphere, often reflecting modern industrialized influences

Etymology: "Westerners" is simply the plural of "westerner," which is formed from "western" plus the suffix "-er," the same ending that turns "villa" into "villager" or "London" into "Londoner." The base "western" comes from the Old English "westerne," meaning "toward the west," built from "west" with a comparative-style suffix that gave the sense of direction, so a westerner was originally someone from or living in the western part of a region. The modern sense, people who live in or identify with Western cultural norms, grew out of the broader use of "western" as a term for the nations of Europe and North America. The word's meaning therefore shifted from a plain compass direction to a label for a whole cultural bloc.

Synonyms: occidentals, Americans, Europeans, western people, west dwellers

Antonyms: easterners, orientals, INVALID, INVALID, INVALID