Adjacent Words

Orient definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

O'RIENT, a. [L. oriens, from orior, to arise.]
1. Rising, as the sun.
- Moon, that now meet'st the orient sun.
The orient morn.
2. Eastern; oriental.
3. Bright; shining; glittering; as orient pearls.
O'RIENT, n. The east; the part of the horizon where the sun first appears in the morning.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the countries of Asia [syn: East, Orient]
2: the hemisphere that includes Eurasia and Africa and Australia [syn: eastern hemisphere, orient] v
1: be oriented; "The weather vane points North"; "the dancers toes pointed outward" [syn: orient, point]
2: determine one's position with reference to another point; "We had to orient ourselves in the forest" [syn: orient, orientate] [ant: disorient, disorientate]
3: cause to point; "Orient the house towards the West"
4: familiarize (someone) with new surroundings or circumstances; "The dean of students tries to orient the freshmen"
5: adjust to a specific need or market; "a magazine oriented towards young people"; "tailor your needs to your surroundings" [syn: tailor, orient]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin orient-, oriens, from present participle of oriri to rise; akin to Sanskrit ??oti he moves, arises, Greek ornynai to rouse, oros mountain Date: 14th century 1. archaic east 1b 2. capitalized east 2 3. a. a pearl of great luster b. the luster of a pearl II. adjective Date: 15th century 1. archaic oriental 1 2. a. lustrous, sparkling <orient gems> b. archaic radiant, glowing 3. archaic rising in the sky III. transitive verb Etymology: French orienter, from Middle French, from orient Date: circa 1741 1. a. to cause to face or point toward the east; specifically to build (a church or temple) with the longitudinal axis pointing eastward and the chief altar at the eastern end b. to set or arrange in any determinate position especially in relation to the points of the compass c. to ascertain the bearings of 2. a. to set right by adjusting to facts or principles b. to acquaint with the existing situation or environment 3. to direct (as a book or film) toward the interests of a particular group 4. to cause the axes of the molecules of to assume the same direction

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n., adj., & v. --n. 1 (the Orient) a poet. the east. b the countries E. of the Mediterranean, esp. E. Asia. 2 an orient pearl. --adj. 1 poet. oriental. 2 (of precious stones and esp. the finest pearls coming orig. from the East) lustrous; sparkling; precious. 3 archaic a radiant. b (of the sun, daylight, etc.) rising. --v. 1 tr. a place or exactly determine the position of with the aid of a compass; settle or find the bearings of. b (often foll. by towards) bring (oneself, different elements, etc.) into a clearly understood position or relationship; direct. 2 tr. a place or build (a church, building, etc.) facing towards the East. b bury (a person) with the feet towards the East. 3 intr. turn eastward or in a specified direction. Phrases and idioms: orient oneself determine how one stands in relation to one's surroundings. Etymology: ME f. OF orient, orienter f. L oriens -entis rising, sunrise, east, f. oriri rise

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Orient O"ri*ent, v. t. 1. Same as Orientate, 2. 2. To place (a map or chart) so that its east side, north side, etc., lie toward the corresponding parts of the horizon; specif. (Surv.), 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Orient O"ri*ent, a. [F., fr. L. oriens, -entis, p. pr. of oriri to rise. See Origin.] 1. Rising, as the sun. Moon, that now meet'st the orient sun. --Milton. 2. Eastern; oriental. ``The orient part.'' --Hakluyt. 3. Bright; lustrous; superior; pure; perfect; pellucid; -- used of gems and also figuratively, because the most perfect jewels are found in the East. ``Pearls round and orient.'' --Jer. Taylor. ``Orient gems.'' --Wordsworth. ``Orient liquor in a crystal glass.'' --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Orient O"ri*ent, n. 1. The part of the horizon where the sun first appears in the morning; the east. [Morn] came furrowing all the orient into gold. --Tennyson. 2. The countries of Asia or the East. --Chaucer. Best built city throughout the Orient. --Sir T. Herbert. 3. A pearl of great luster. [R.] --Carlyle.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Orient O"ri*ent, v. t. [F. orienter. Cf. Orientate.] 1. To define the position of, in relation to the orient or east; hence, to ascertain the bearings of. 2. Fig.: To correct or set right by recurring to first principles; to arrange in order; to orientate.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

or orientate(orients, orienting, oriented) 1. When you orient yourself to a new situation or course of action, you learn about it and prepare to deal with it. (FORMAL) You will need the time to orient yourself to your new way of eating. = accustom VERB: V pron-refl towards/to n/-ing 2. see also oriented

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

The eastern part of Asia is sometimes referred to as the Orient. (LITERARY, OLD-FASHIONED) = East N-PROPER: the N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Rising. 2. Eastern, oriental. 3. Bright, shining, glittering, sparkling, brilliant. 4. Perfect, precious, faultless. II. n. 1. East. 2. Morning land, Asia, East.

Moby Thesaurus

acclimate, acclimatize, accommodate, accustom, adapt, adjust, aglow, assess, beaming, beamy, blushing, break, break in, bright and sunny, burning, candescent, case harden, condition, confirm, domesticate, domesticize, east, eastern, establish, familiarize, fix, flushing, gentle, gleaming, gleamy, glinting, glowing, habituate, harden, housebreak, illuminant, incandescent, inure, irradiative, lamping, light as day, luciferous, lucific, luciform, luminant, luminative, luminiferous, luminificent, luminous, lustrous, naturalize, orient the map, oriental, orientate, radiant, rutilant, rutilous, season, shining, shiny, starbright, starlike, starry, streaming, suffused, sunny, sunshiny, tame, train, wont

Moby Thesaurus

Africa, America, Antipodes, Asia, Asia Major, Asia Minor, Australasia, East, Eastern Hemisphere, Eurasia, Europe, Far East, Levant, Middle East, Near East, New World, Occident, Oceania, Old World, West, Western Hemisphere, continent, down under, eastland, landmass, the old country