väster

Väster is the Swedish word for the cardinal direction west. In everyday language it functions as a noun describing the western side of a place or region, and it also serves as a prefix in many place names to signal the western part of a town, province or district.

Etymology and related forms trace Väster to the historic Germanic and Norse roots for the west. It is cognate with the English word west and with related forms in other Germanic languages. In modern Swedish, the word appears in adverbial forms such as västerut, meaning toward the west, and västerifrån, meaning from the west, among others.

In geography and navigation, Väster is used to denote western areas or directions. It is common in administrative naming and planning to mark western quarters, districts, or regions. Examples include Västerort, the western part of Stockholm Municipality, which is used in urban planning and local discourse. In broader regional naming, the prefix appears in names like Västerbotten, a historical province and current county in northern Sweden, where the term signals a western position within the region’s traditional nomenclature.

Väster is typically contrasted with öster (east), norr (north), and söder (south) in cartographic, navigational, and descriptive contexts. In everyday use, väster may refer simply to the west side of a local area or property, depending on the speaker and situation.