West·ern a.
 1. Of or pertaining to the west; situated in the west, or in the region nearly in the direction of west; being in that quarter where the sun sets; as, the western shore of France; the western ocean.
    Far o'er the glowing western main.   --Keble.
 2. Moving toward the west; as, a ship makes a western course; coming from the west; as, a western breeze.
 Western Church. See Latin Church, under Latin.
 Western empire Hist., the western portion of the Roman empire, as divided, by the will of Theodosius the Great, between his sons Honorius and Arcadius, a. d. 395.
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 Western Empire
      n : the western part after the Roman Empire was divided in 395;
          it lasted only until 476 [syn: Western Roman Empire]