orient

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to align or position relative to surroundings; to familiarize with a situation

   She paused to orient herself before choosing a path.

Simplified etymology

Orient has denoted the countries of the East since the Middle Ages and is first recorded in English in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It ultimately goes back to Latin oriri, “to rise,” referring to the rising sun; the verb orient originally meant to place someone or something facing east.

From Old French 'orient', from Latin 'oriens' ('the rising sun, the east'), present participle of 'oriri' ('to rise'); the verb sense derives from aligning churches or maps toward the east.

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External links

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