east
‘east’
The east is the direction that you look towards in order to see the sun rise.
A strong wind was blowing from the east.
An east wind blows from the east.
It has turned bitterly cold, with a cruel east wind.
The east of a place is the part that is towards the east.
She lives in a small flat in the east of Glasgow.
The plane travelled on to the east of the continent.
East occurs in the names of some countries and regions.
He comes from East Timor.
They travelled around East Africa.
‘eastern’
However, you don't usually talk about the ‘east’ part of a country. You talk about the eastern part.
Most of the parks are in the eastern part of the city.
Similarly, don't talk about ‘east Europe’ or ‘east England’. You say eastern Europe or eastern England.
They discussed the economies of Central and Eastern Europe.
He took a flight from Dijon in eastern France.