中文摘要：

＂粤东＂是一个被广泛运用的地名,然而在古代与当代的地理意义迥然不同。即使在当代＂粤东＂也有几种解释,对人们的生产和生活造成一定影响。因此,探寻＂粤东＂较为合理的地理意义很有必要,能够为相关部门提供参考。文章首先根据历史文献,梳理了古代＂粤东＂一称地理意义的演变,然后以定量的方法统计当代学术界和媒体界对该词的使用。研究表明：由于古代＂粤＂的地理意义不断缩小,＂粤东＂的指代范围随之逐渐变小。当代＂粤东＂的地理意义至少有4种,以＂粤东五市＂最为学术界和媒体界认可。结合经济发展和自然地形特征,分析了当代＂粤东＂几种地理意义的优劣,最后提出＂粤东＂的统一定义：位于广东东部,包括潮州、汕头、揭阳、汕尾与梅州5市的区域。

英文摘要：

＂Yuedong＂ is a toponym that is widely used,it means ＂the eastern Guangdong＂ in Chinese.However,its ancient geographical senses and modern geographical senses are different.There are also several explanations of ＂Yuedong＂ in the contemporary era,that influences our daily life and work.Consequently,it is necessary to seek a more reasonable geographical sence of ＂Yuedong＂ and the result would provide reference for relevant departments.Having combed the evolution of the ancient senses of ＂Yuedong＂ according to historical documents,the paper observes the usage of the toponym in contemporary academic circles and the media with quantitative statistic ways.The research shows that the scope of ＂Yuedong＂ became smaller gradually along with the constantly narrowing of the scope of ＂Yue＂ in ancient time.There are at least four geographical senses of ＂Yuedong＂ in the contemporary era.In those four senses,the saying ＂Yuedong has five cities＂ is the most accepted by academia and the media.In combination with the economic development situation and natural terrain features,the paper analyses the advantages and disadvantages of each geographical sense of ＂Yuedong＂ in the contemporary era,and tries to make a united definition for ＂Yuedong＂.According to the definition,＂Yuedong＂ refers to the eastern part of Guangdong,including five cities： Chaozhou,Shantou,Jieyang,Shanwei and Meizhou.