Occident

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The Word of the Day for August 31 is:

Occident   \AKH-suh-dunt\   noun
     : regions or countries lying to the west of a specified or 
implied point of orientation 

Example sentence:
     "Not only are we in the Occident girding ourselves for 
recession, but... [the] economies are showing signs of 
deflation, too." (Kevin Libin, _Canadian Business_, December 10, 
2001)

Did you know?
     You may not be reflecting on the history of the 
word "Occident" as you watch a beautiful sunset, but there is a 
connection. "Occident," which comes from Latin "occidere," 
meaning "to fall," once referred to the part of the sky in which 
the sun goes down. Geoffrey Chaucer used the word in that now
obsolete sense around 1386, and shortly thereafter, the word 
took on the "western regions and countries" sense that we still 
use. Exactly what is meant by "western" is not always the same. 
Originally, "Occident" referred to western Europe or the Western 
Roman Empire. In modern times, it usually refers to some portion 
of Europe and North America as distinct from Asia. The opposite 
of "Occident" is "Orient," which comes from Latin "oriri" ("to 
rise").