{
  "id": "west.direction",
  "term": "west",
  "sense": "direction",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 15,
  "arena": "west",
  "domain": "geography",
  "style": null,
  "definition": "the side of a place together with the north direction is a specific orientation",
  "folk_gloss": null,
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "side.surface",
      "north.direction",
      "difference.relation",
      "direction.spatial",
      "orientation.spatial",
      "space.extent",
      "specific.detail",
      "relevance.core"
    ],
    "interaction": "the side of a place and the direction toward the north combine through spatial orientation to form a distinct directional sense relative to a frame of reference",
    "novel_properties": [
      "cardinal directionality",
      "frame-relative orientation",
      "asymmetric spatial reference"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The GPS constellation requires regular satellite replacements to maintain accurate west-east positioning for global navigation.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    },
    {
      "text": "Sunset observations at Stonehenge align with the westward solstice azimuth, marking seasonal shifts for millennia.",
      "domain": "institutions"
    },
    {
      "text": "California's Pacific coastline defines the western boundary of the United States tectonic plate.",
      "domain": "geology"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "id": "side.surface",
      "note": "is-a",
      "type": "is-a"
    }
  ],
  "used_by": [
    "east.spatial",
    "left.direction",
    "western.directional"
  ],
  "forms": [
    "west"
  ],
  "closed": true,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "openrouter:openai/gpt-oss-120b",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.6,
    "reconciled": {
      "by": "openrouter:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
      "date": "2026-07-31",
      "changed": "components",
      "note": "Added relevance.core (L12) as a constitutive component since the definition relies on it implicitly for distinguishing directional salience; no need to revise definition as it remains factually and st"
    }
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-west.direction"
}