The Spanish word 'este' actually has two distinct etymological origins, leading to two different meanings in modern Spanish. As a demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this', it comes from Latin 'iste' (meaning 'that'), which itself descended from Proto-Italic '*esto-' (meaning 'this'). The meaning shifted slightly from 'that' to 'this' as the word evolved into Spanish.

When used as a directional term meaning 'east', 'este' has Germanic roots. It can be traced back to Proto-Germanic '*austan' (meaning 'east'), which evolved into Old English 'east'. This word was borrowed into French as 'est', and finally made its way into Spanish as 'este'.

Some related Spanish words include 'esto' (meaning 'this thing'), which shares the same Latin origin as the demonstrative 'este'. You'll also find related forms like 'esta' (feminine 'this') and 'estos/estas' (plural forms). All these demonstrative pronouns help indicate the proximity of objects being referred to.

The directional meaning of Spanish 'este' is related to the English word 'east', both coming from the same Proto-Germanic root '*austan'. This connection is quite straightforward and easy to remember. The English words 'eastern' and 'easterly' are also obviously related.

While the demonstrative meaning of 'este' doesn't have direct English cognates, understanding that it comes from Latin 'iste' can help explain why we see 'est-' at the beginning of words like 'establish' (though this is a more distant connection).