orientation

Etymology

From French orientation. Surface etymology is orient + -ation.

noun

1. (countable) The determination of the relative position of something or someone.
2. (countable) The relative physical position or direction of something.
3. (uncountable) The construction of a Christian church to have its aisle in an east-west direction with the altar at the east end.
4. (countable) An inclination, tendency or direction.
5. (countable) The ability to orient, or the process of so doing.
   The homing instinct in pigeons is an example of orientation.
6. (countable) An adjustment to a new environment.
7. (countable) An introduction to a (new) environment.
   1. (education) Events to orient new students at a school; events to help new students become familiar with a school.
8. (typography, countable) The direction of print across the page; landscape or portrait.
9. (LGBT) Ellipsis of sexual orientation.
10. (mathematical analysis, differential geometry, countable) The choice of which ordered bases are "positively" oriented and which are "negatively" oriented on a real vector space.
11. (analytic geometry, topology, countable) The designation of a parametrised curve as "positively" or "negatively" oriented (or "nonorientable"); the analogous description of a surface or hypersurface.