orient
nameEtymology
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.
Definitions
Usually preceded by the
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: […]
- God planted Paradise in Eden, in the orients; and placed there the man whom he had formed.
- I pitch my tent upon the naked sands, / And the tall palm, that plumes the orient lands, / Can with its beauty satisfy my heart.
The part of the horizon where the sun first appears in the morning
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, [...]
- Morn in the white wake of the morning star / Came furrowing all the orient into gold.
A pearl originating from the Indian region, reputed to be of great brilliance
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.
- Henry II. wore jewelled gloves reaching to the elbow, and had a hawk-glove sewn with twelve rubies and fifty-two great orients.
›+ 16 more definitionsshow fewer
The brilliance or colour of a high-quality pearl.
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, [...]
Of the colour of the sky at daybreak
Of the colour of the sky at daybreak; bright in colour, from red to yellow.
Of, facing, or located in the east
Of, facing, or located in the east; eastern, oriental.
Of a pearl or other gem
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, [...]
- The liquid drops of Teares that you have ſhed, Shall come againe, transform'd to Orient Pearle, [...]
To build or place (something) so as to face eastward.
To align or place (a person or object) so that his, her, or its east side, north side,…
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.).
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.
To determine which direction one is facing.
- Let me just orient myself and we can be on our way.
To familiarize (oneself or someone) with a circumstance or situation.
- Give him time to orient himself within the new hierarchy.
- 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.
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.
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.
The countries east of the Mediterranean.
A number of places in the United States
A number of places in the United States:
A rural locality in the Shire of Hinchinbrook, Queensland, Australia.
A pear cultivar from the United States
The neighborhood
- neighbororientalism
- neighbororientalist
- neighbororiental
- neighbororienteer
- neighbororienteering
- neighbororigin
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for orient. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA