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orient

Pronunciation: /ˈɔː.ɹɪ.ənt/

The English word “orient” has 14 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The part of the horizon where the sun first appears in the morning; the east.
  2. A pearl originating from the Indian region, reputed to be of great brilliance; (by extension) any pearl of particular beauty and value.
  3. The brilliance or colour of a high-quality pearl.

adjective

  1. Rising, like the morning sun.
  2. Of the colour of the sky at daybreak; bright in colour, from red to yellow.
  3. Of, facing, or located in the east; eastern, oriental.
  4. Of a pearl or other gem: of great brilliance and value; (by extension) bright, lustrous.

verb

  1. To build or place (something) so as to face eastward.
  2. 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.
  3. To direct towards or point at a particular direction.
  4. To determine which direction one is facing.
  5. To familiarize (oneself or someone) with a circumstance or situation.
  6. To set the focus of (something) so as to appeal or relate to a certain group.
  7. To change direction to face a certain way.

Etymology

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;…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.