orient

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: o=ri=ent

CIDE DICTIONARY

orient, a. [F., fr. L. oriens, -entis, p. pr. of oriri to rise. See Origin.].

•  Rising, as the sun.  [1913 Webster]

  "Moon, that now meet'st the orient sun."  [1913 Webster]
•  Eastern; oriental.  Hakluyt.  [1913 Webster]
•  Bright; lustrous; superior; pure; perfect; pellucid; -- used of gems and also figuratively, because the most perfect jewels are found in the East.  [1913 Webster]

orient, n. 

•  The part of the horizon where the sun first appears in the morning; the east.  [1913 Webster]

  "[Morn] came furrowing all the orient into gold."  [1913 Webster]
•  The countries of Asia or the East.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

  "Best built city throughout the Orient."  [1913 Webster]
•  A pearl of great luster.  Carlyle.  [1913 Webster]

orient, v. t. [F. orienter. Cf. Orientate.].

•  To define the position of, in relation to the orient or east; hence, to ascertain the bearings of.  [1913 Webster]
•  To acquaint with new surroundings or a new situation.  [PJC]
•  Fig.: To correct or set right by recurring to first principles; to arrange in order; to orientate.  [1913 Webster]
•  Same as Orientate, 2.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  To place (a map or chart) so that its east side, north side, etc., lie toward the corresponding parts of the horizon;  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

orient, 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.

Idiom

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

THESAURUS

orient

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

ROGET THESAURUS

orient

Laterality

N laterality, side, flank, quarter, lee, hand, cheek, jowl, jole, wing, profile, temple, parietes, loin, haunch, hip, beam, gable, gable end, broadside, lee side, points of the compass, East, Orient, Levant, West, orientation, lateral, sidelong, collateral, parietal, flanking, skirting, flanked, sideling, many sided, multilateral, bilateral, trilateral, quadrilateral, Eastern, orient, oriental, Levantine, Western, occidental, Hesperian, sideways, sidelong, broadside on, on one side, abreast, alongside, beside, aside, by the side of, side by side, cheek by jowl, to windward, to leeward, laterally, right and left, on her beam ends, his cheek the may of days outworn, laterality, side, flank, quarter, lee, hand, cheek, jowl, jole, wing, profile, temple, parietes, loin, haunch, hip, beam, gable, gable end, broadside, lee side, points of the compass, East, Orient, Levant, West, orientation, lateral, sidelong, collateral, parietal, flanking, skirting, flanked, sideling, many sided, multilateral, bilateral, trilateral, quadrilateral, Eastern, orient, oriental, Levantine, Western, occidental, Hesperian, sideways, sidelong, broadside on, on one side, abreast, alongside, beside, aside, by the side of, side by side, cheek by jowl, to windward, to leeward, laterally, right and left, on her beam ends, his cheek the may of days outworn.

Light

N light, ray, beam, stream, gleam, streak, pencil, sunbeam, moonbeam, aurora, day, sunshine, light of day, light of heaven, moonlight, starlight, sunlight, daylight, broad daylight, noontide light, noontide, noonday, noonday sun, glow, glimmering, glint, play of light, flood of light, phosphorescence, lambent flame, flush, halo, glory, nimbus, aureola, spark, scintilla, facula, sparkling, emication, scintillation, flash, blaze, coruscation, fulguration, flame, lightning, levin, ignis fatuus, luster, sheen, shimmer, reflexion, reflection, gloss, tinsel, spangle, brightness, brilliancy, splendor, effulgence, refulgence, fulgor, fulgidity, dazzlement, resplendence, transplendency, luminousness, luminosity, lucidity, renitency, nitency, radiance, radiation, irradiation, illumination, actinic rays, actinism, Roentgen-ray, Xray, photography, heliography, photometer, optics, photology, photometry, dioptrics, catoptrics, chiaroscuro, clairobscur, clear obscure, breadth, light and shade, black and white, tonality, reflection, refraction, dispersion, refractivity, shining, luminous, luminiferous, lucid, lucent, luculent, lucific, luciferous, light, lightsome, bright, vivid, splendent, nitid, lustrous, shiny, beamy, scintillant, radiant, lambent, sheen, sheeny, glossy, burnished, glassy, sunny, orient, meridian, noonday, tide, cloudless, clear, unclouded, unobscured, gairish, garish, resplendent, transplendent, refulgent, effulgent, fulgid, fulgent, relucent, splendid, blazing, in a blaze, ablaze, rutilant, meteoric, phosphorescent, aglow, bright as silver, light as day, bright as day, light as noonday, bright as noonday, bright as the sun at noonday, actinic, photogenic, graphic, heliographic, heliophagous, a day for gods to stoop and men to soar, dark with excessive bright.