orient

Etymology 1

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.

noun

1. The part of the horizon where the sun first appears in the morning; the east.
2. (obsolete) 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 the First Forty Years of His Life, 1795–1835 … Two Volumes in One (Harper’s Franklin Square Library; nos. 245 and 246), volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers,[…], published 1882, →OCLC, page 174
3. (by extension) The brilliance or colour of a high-quality pearl.

adj

1. (dated, poetic, also figurative) Rising, like the morning sun.
2. (dated, poetic) Of the colour of the sky at daybreak; bright in colour, from red to yellow.
3. (obsolete except poetic) Of, facing, or located in the east; eastern, oriental.
4. (obsolete except poetic) Of a pearl or other gem: of great brilliance and value; (by extension) bright, lustrous.
   It is neceſſary to ſome men to have garments made of the Calabrian fleece, ſtain'd with the bloud of the murex, and to get money to buy pearls round and orient; … well may a ſober man wonder that men ſhould be ſo much in love with Earth and Corruption, the Parent of rottenneſs and a diſeaſe, … a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, “Sermon XVI. [The House of Feasting: Or The Epicures Measures.] Part III.”, in ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [ENIAUTOS]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year.[…], 4th enlarged edition, London: Printed by R[oger] Norton for R[ichard] Royston,[…], published 1673, →OCLC, page 154
   Her orienteſt colours there, And eſſences moſt pure, With ſweeteſt perfumes hoarded were, a. 1679, Andrew Marvell, “The Match”, in The Works of Andrew Marvell, Esq.: Poetical, Controversial, and Political, […] In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Printed for the editor, by Henry Baldwin, and sold by [Robert] Dodsley [et al.], published 1776, →OCLC, stanza II, page 269

Etymology 2

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).

verb

1. (transitive) 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, as of the Emperor Gratian (ob. 383), and sometimes not. … The second type of interment, also of Romans or Romanised Britons, resembled the first in being more or less perfectly oriented, the orientation varying, probably according as it had taken place in summer or in winter, from E.N.E. to E.S.E. over about 45°; … 25 August 1868, George Rolleston, “On the Modes of Sepulture Observable in Late Romano-British and Early Anglo-Saxon Times in This Country”, in International Congress of Prehistoric Archæology: Transactions of the Third Session[…], London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1869, →OCLC, pages 176–177
2. (transitive, by extension) 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. 1855, W. M. Gillespie, “Part VIII. Plane Table Surveying.”, in A Treatise on Land-surveying:[…], New York, N.Y., London: D. Appleton & Co.,[…], →OCLC, paragraph 456 (To Orient the Table), page 309
   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, Karl E. Moessner, Accuracy of Ground Point Location from Aerial Photographs (U.S. Forest Service Research Note; INT-5), Ogden, Ut.: Intermountain Forest & Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, →OCLC, page 4
3. (transitive) 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. 1 December 1931, C[harles] G. Weber, F[rederick] T. Carson, L[eo] W[illiam] Snyder, “Properties Studied and Test Methods Used”, in Properties of Fiber Building Boards (Miscellaneous Publication, Bureau of Standards; no. 132), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, section 3 (Insulating Values), page 13
   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 defined as a measure of the degree to which the individual particles are oriented or the material polarized. 1963 November, M. E. Whitten, L. A. Baumann, “Theory of Dielectric Constant Measurements”, in Evaluation of a Rapid Method of Determining Oil Content of Soybeans (United States Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin; no. 1296), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 7
   The goal is to draw on reservoirs of strength that defy rational thought, so you can wrench your poor, obsessed spirit away from work and orient it toward stuff that matters. 2007 November, Gil Schwartz, “Escape from the job monster”, in Men's Health, volume 22, number 9, →ISSN, page 122
4. (transitive, reflexive) 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 obey the sublimer laws on which the soul of man was formed; and the fulness of the power and the wisdom and the blessedness, with which God has filled and lighted up this resplendent universe, shall all be yours! 1850, Horace Mann, A Few Thoughts for a Young Man: A Lecture, Delivered before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, on Its 29th Anniversary, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 84
   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 witnessing pillar at any other time, and that the only time when the aid indispensable was possible was B.C. 2170. 1879 March, James French, “The Great Pyramid in Connection with the Pleiades; or, The Last Anniversary of the Great Year of the Pleiades. When, How, and Why Celebrated.”, in Kansas City Review of Science and Industry, a Monthly Record of Progress in Science, Mechanic Arts and Literature, volume II, number 12, Kansas City, Mo.: Journal of Commerce Printing and Publishing House, →OCLC, page 758
5. (transitive, often reflexive, figurative) 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 of this world into the language of the soul. 1913, G[eorge] R[obert] S[towe] Mead, “Vaihinger’s Philosophy of the ‘As If’”, in Quests Old and New, London: G[eorge] Bell & Sons, Ltd., →OCLC, page 257
   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: Occupational Descriptions”, in Area Wage Survey: Charlotte—Gastonia—Rock Hill; North Carolina—South Carolina Metropolitan Area (Bulletin; 3060-27), [Washington, D.C.]: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, →OCLC, page 41
   The first system of attention underlies orienting to and exploration of objects in the environment and is composed of at least two networks involved in orienting to locations in space and object recognition, respectively …. 1996, Holly Alliger Ruff, Mary Klevjord Rothbart, Attention in Early Development: Themes and Variations, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, page 114
6. (transitive, figurative) 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 bringing people out of their divergent routines and orienting them toward community activities. 1961, C. K. Yang [i.e., Ch’ing-k’un Yang], “Communal Aspects of Popular Cults”, in Religion in Chinese Society: A Study of Contemporary Social Functions of Religion and Some of Their Historical Factors, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press, page 81
7. (intransitive) 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. 1984 February, “Appendix T: Biological Opinion from National Marine Fisheries Service for Proposed Southern California Lease Offering, February 1984”, in EIS: Environmental Impact Statement: Proposed Southern California Lease Offering, final volume 2, Los Angeles, Calif.: Prepared by the Minerals Management Service, Pacific OCS Region, published April 1984, →OCLC, page 8-239