eli5 What is the term “western” mean. Is it North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand

Question

I have been seeing people in the internet saying Western Cloth, Western Media, Westernizing, Western Movies, Western Nations. What does the term “Western” mean. Can anyone explain to me like I am 5 years old

In: 3

Answer 1

I think the expression originally was “invented” in the USA and was meant for them alone. Western as in west for longitude zero or west for Greenwich. The civilized country, vs the underdeveloped to the East, for Greenwich.

Later, has the meaning gotten to include many more countries. What these countries consist of, all depends on who you ask.