Word Study
orientation
CIDE DICTIONARY
orientation, n. [Cf. F. orientation.].
- The act or process of orientating; determination of the points of the compass, or the east point, in taking bearings. [1913 Webster]
- The tendency of a revolving body, when suspended in a certain way, to bring the axis of rotation into parallelism with the earth's axis. [1913 Webster]
- An aspect or fronting to the east; especially
(Arch.) , the placing of a church so that the chancel, containing the altar toward which the congregation fronts in worship, will be on the east end. [1913 Webster] - A return to first principles; an orderly arrangement. [1913 Webster]"The task of orientation undertaken in this chapter." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
orientation, n.
1 the act or an instance of orienting; the state of being oriented.
2 a a relative position. b a person's attitude or adjustment in relation to circumstances, esp. politically or psychologically.
3 an introduction to a subject or situation; a briefing.
4 the faculty by which birds etc. find their way home from a distance.
1 the act or an instance of orienting; the state of being oriented.
2 a a relative position. b a person's attitude or adjustment in relation to circumstances, esp. politically or psychologically.
3 an introduction to a subject or situation; a briefing.
4 the faculty by which birds etc. find their way home from a distance.
Idiom
orientation course esp. US a course giving information to newcomers to a university etc.
Derivative
orientational adj.
Etymology
app. f. ORIENT
THESAURUS
orientation
acclimation, acclimatization, accommodation, accustoming, adaptation, adaption, adjustment, aim, alignment, arrangement, aspect, assimilation, attitude, azimuth, bearing, bearings, bent, breaking, breaking-in, briefing, case hardening, celestial navigation, conditioning, course, current, dead reckoning, direction, direction line, disorientation, domestication, drift, exposure, familiarization, fix, frontage, habituation, hardening, heading, helmsmanship, housebreaking, inclination, initiation, instruction, introduction, inurement, lay, layout, lie, line, line of direction, line of march, line of position, location, naturalization, navigation, pilotage, piloting, placement, placing, point, position, position line, positioning, preparation, quarter, radio bearing, range, run, seasoning, set, set-up, situation, steerage, steering, taming, tendency, tenor, track, training, trend, wayROGET THESAURUS
orientation
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.For further exploring for "orientation" in Webster Dictionary Online