orient

Usually preceded by the: alternative letter-case form of Orient (“a region or a part of the world to the east of a certain place; countries of Asia, the East (especially East Asia)”)

Adjective

  1. Rising, like the morning sun.
    • Moon, that now meetſt the orient sun, now fli'ſt / With the fixt Starrs, fixt in thir Orb that flies, [...] - 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter...
  2. Of the colour of the sky at daybreak; bright in colour, from red to yellow.
    • Then, I do so like the one or two principal walks, neatly edged with box, cut with most precise regularity, keeping guard over favourite plants:—columbines, bending on their slender stems; rose-bushes, covered with buds...

    Synonyms: Orient red

  3. Of, facing, or located in the east; eastern, oriental.
    • To ſhewe that though this figure of the worlde in playne or flat ſeemeth to haue an ende, yet one imagining that this ſayde carde were ſet vpon a round thing, where the endes ſhoulde touche by the lines, it would...

    Antonyms: occidental

  4. Of a pearl or other gem: of great brilliance and value; (by extension) bright, lustrous.
    • Thinges to be carried with you, whereof more or leſſe is to be caried for a ſhewe of our commodities to bee made. Kerſies of all orient coulours, ſpecially of ſtamel [a fine worsted], brodecloth of orient colours alſo....
    • [...] He gaue me a rope of the ſame Pearle, but they were blacke, and naught, yet many of them were very great, and a fewe amongſt a number very orient and round, [...] - 1589, Ralph Lane, “An Account of the...
    • The liquid drops of Teares that you have ſhed, Shall come againe, transform'd to Orient Pearle, [...] - c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares...

    Synonyms: aglow alight beamful beamsome beamy brilliant effulgent glowing illuminating lambent lighted lit lucent luciferous lucific luminant luminiferous luminous lustrous orient profulgent radiant refulgent resplendent

Origin

The noun is derived from Middle English orient, oriente, oryent, oryente, oryentte (“the east direction; eastern horizon or sky; eastern regions of the world, Asia, Orient; eastern edge of the world”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman orient, oriente, and Old French orient (“east direction; Asia, Orient”) (modern French orient), or directly from its etymon Latin oriēns (“the east; daybreak, dawn; sunrise; (participle) rising; appearing; originating”), present active participle of orior (“to get up, rise; to appear, become visible; to be born, come to exist, originate”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to move, stir; to rise, spring”). The adjective is derived from Middle English orient (“eastern; from Asia or the Orient; brilliant, shining (characteristic of jewels from the Orient)”), from Middle English orient (noun); see above.

Derived

oriency oriently orientness

Proper noun

  1. Usually preceded by the: alternative letter-case form of Orient (“a region or a part of the world to the east of a certain place; countries of Asia, the East (especially East Asia)”)
    • I, from the orient to the drooping weſt, / Making the wind my poſthorſe, ſtill unfold / The acts commenced on this ball of earth: […] - c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “King Henry IV. Part II.”, in The Plays of...
    • God planted Paradise in Eden, in the orients; and placed there the man whom he had formed. - 1834, “St. Basil’s Homily on Paradise”, in Hugh Stuart Boyd, transl., The Fathers not Papists: Or, Six Discourses by the Most...
    • I pitch my tent upon the naked sands, / And the tall palm, that plumes the orient lands, / Can with its beauty satisfy my heart. - 1855, Bayard Taylor, “Proem Dedicatory. An Epistle from Mount Tmolus.”, in Poems of the...

    Synonyms: East east

    Antonyms: occident ponent West west

Noun

  1. The part of the horizon where the sun first appears in the morning; the east.
    • Loe in the Orient when the gracious light, Lifts vp his burning head, each vnder eye Doth homage to his new appearing ſight, [...] - 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 7”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By...
    • Morn in the white wake of the morning star / Came furrowing all the orient into gold. - 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part III”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 47:
  2. A pearl originating from the Indian region, reputed to be of great brilliance; (by extension) any pearl of particular beauty and value.
    • The chambers of the East are opened in every land, and the sun comes forth to sow the earth with orient pearl. - 1825, James Anthony Froude, quoting Thomas Carlyle, “a.d. 1825. æt. 30.”, in Thomas Carlyle: A History of...
    • It is indeed an 'extensive Volume,' of boundless, almost formless contents, a very Sea of Thought; neither calm nor clear, if you will; yet wherein the toughest pearl-diver may dive to his utmost depth, and return not...
    • Henry II. wore jewelled gloves reaching to the elbow, and had a hawk-glove sewn with twelve rubies and fifty-two great orients. - 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter XI, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.:...
  3. The brilliance or colour of a high-quality pearl.

Forms

orients

Verb

  1. To build or place (something) so as to face eastward.
    • The first kind of interment was that of leaden coffins, rectangular in shape, covered with a lid, occupying deeper graves than any of the other interments, more or less accurately oriented, sometimes containing coins,...
  2. To align or place (a person or object) so that his, her, or its east side, north side, etc., is positioned toward the corresponding points of the compass; (specifically, surveying) to rotate (a map attached to a plane table) until the line of direction between any two of its points is parallel to the corresponding direction in nature.
    • Without a compass the table is oriented, when set at one end of a line previously determined, by sighting back on this line, [...]. To orient the table, when at a station unconnected with others, is more difficult. -...
    • He orients his photo-scale protractor over the intersection of the base line and compass line extended, by means of the bearing of base line AB (S. 32° W.) and reads bearing of compass line RP to 7 (N. 80° W.). - 1963,...

    Synonyms: orientate

  3. To direct towards or point at a particular direction.
    • The workers oriented all the signs to face the road.
    • The present methods of manufacture of fiber boards tend to orient the fibers so that they are most effective for insulation. - 1931 December 1, C[harles] G. Weber, F[rederick] T. Carson, L[eo] W[illiam] Snyder,...
    • When a substance is placed in an electric field, the molecules tend to orient themselves in a definite pattern with respect to the direction of the field. The dielectric constant of the material can, for simplicity, be...

    Synonyms: orientate

  4. To determine which direction one is facing.
    • Let me just orient myself and we can be on our way.
    • All around your spirit, the universe lies open and free, and you can go where you will. Orient yourself! Orient yourself! [...] [S]tudy and obey the sublime laws on which the frame of nature was constructed; study and...
    • The two stars, one at the Pole and the other at the Equator, were essential to both orienting and dating the structure. Hence the conclusion that the Great Pyramid could not have accomplished its design as a monumental...
  5. To familiarize (oneself or someone) with a circumstance or situation.
    • Give him time to orient himself within the new hierarchy.
    • Thus the thought-world is a symbol, or system of symbols, which serves the organic beings of the real world for orienting themselves in the world of actual being, and is the means whereby they translate the proceedings...
    • Computer Systems Analyst II [...] Determines and resolves data processing problems and coordinates the work with program, users, etc.; orients user personnel on new or changed procedures. - 1991 September, “Appendix B:...

    Synonyms: orientate

    Antonyms: disorient disorientate

  6. To set the focus of (something) so as to appeal or relate to a certain group.
    • We will orient our campaign to the youth who are often disinterested.
    • Whatever the occasion of the public religious observance, whether it was the holding of a temple fair, praying for rain, or celebrating a popular festival, religion came to serve as a symbol of common devotion in...
  7. To change direction to face a certain way.
    • Observation stations were established at vantage points along the coast to monitor gray whale responses to the sounds generated by the air gun array. [...] At 3 miles some whales appeared to orient toward the sound. -...

Origin

The verb is derived from French orienter (“to orientate; to guide; to set to north”) from French orient (noun) (see above) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

Forms

orients orienting oriented

Related

orientalism orientalist oriental Oriental orienteer orienteering origin

Derived

biorient disorient disorientate misorient nonorientable nonoriented orientability orientable orientate orientating orientation orientative oriented orientee reorient reorientate reorientation unorientable unoriented