orient

See also Orient

English

Etymology

From Middle English orient, from Old French orient, from Latin oriens (“rising; as a noun, the quarter where the sun rises, the east, day”), present participle of oriri (“to rise”).

Verb

orient (third-person singular simple present orients, present participle orienting, simple past and past participle oriented)

1. (transitive) To familiarize with a situation or circumstance.

   Give him time to orient himself within the new hierarchy.

2. (transitive) To set the focus of so as to relate or appeal to a certain group.

   We will orient our campaign to the youth who are often disinterested.

3. (transitive) To point at or direct towards.

   I will orient all of the signs to face the road.

4. (transitive) To determine which direction one is facing.

   Let me just orient myself and we can be on our way.

5. (transitive) To place or build so as to face eastward.
6. (intransitive) To change direction so as to face east.
7. (by extension) To change direction to face a certain way.

Synonyms

• orientate (UK)

Derived terms

orientate (UK) orientation orienteer

Related terms

origin

Translations

to familiarize with a situation or circumstance

• Czech: orientovat se (cs)
• Danish: orientere sig (da)
• Dutch: zich oriënteren (nl)
• French: s'orienter (fr)
• German: sich orientieren (de)

• Italian: orientarsi (it)
• Russian: ориентироваться (ru) (orijentírovatʹsja) impf., сориентироваться (ru) (sorijentírovatʹsja) pf.
• Spanish: orientarse (es)

to set the focus of so as to relate or appeal to a certain group

• Czech: orientovat (cs)
• Russian: ориентировать (ru) (orijentírovatʹ) impf., сориентировать (ru) (sorijentírovatʹ) pf.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Portuguese: orientar (pt)

Noun

orient (plural orients)

1. Alternative capitalization of Orient [from 14th c.]
2. (obsolete) A pearl of orient. [19th c.]
   • 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Vintage 2007, p. 120:

     Henry II wore jewelled gloves reaching to the elbow, and had a hawk-glove sewn with twelve rubies and fifty-two great orients.

Anagrams

• tonier, trione

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Old French

Noun

orient m (nominative singular orienz)

1. Alternative form of oriant.