ORIENT

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Orient mean? 

• ORIENT (noun)
  The noun ORIENT has 2 senses:

1. the countries of Asia

2. the hemisphere that includes Eurasia and Africa and Australia

  Familiarity information: ORIENT used as a noun is rare.

• ORIENT (verb)
  The verb ORIENT has 5 senses:

1. be oriented

2. determine one's position with reference to another point

3. cause to point

4. familiarize (someone) with new surroundings or circumstances

5. adjust to a specific need or market

  Familiarity information: ORIENT used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ORIENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The countries of Asia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

East; Orient

Instance hypernyms:

Asia (the nations of the Asian continent collectively)

Meronyms (parts of "Orient"):

Far East (a popular expression for the countries of eastern Asia (usually including China and Mongolia and Taiwan and Japan and Korea and Indochina and eastern Siberia))

Attribute:

eastern (relating to or characteristic of regions of eastern parts of the world)

Derivation:

oriental (denoting or characteristic of countries of the Far East)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The hemisphere that includes Eurasia and Africa and Australia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

eastern hemisphere; orient

Hypernyms ("orient" is a kind of...):

hemisphere (half of the terrestrial globe)

Meronyms (parts of "orient"):

Africa (the second largest continent; located to the south of Europe and bordered to the west by the South Atlantic and to the east by the Indian Ocean)

Australia (the smallest continent; between the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean)

Eurasia (the land mass formed by the continents of Europe and Asia)

Old World (the regions of the world that were known to Europeans before the discovery of the Americas)

• ORIENT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they orient    ... he / she / it orients   
Past simple: oriented   
Past participle: oriented   
-ing form: orienting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be oriented

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

orient; point

Context example:

the dancers toes pointed outward

Hypernyms (to "orient" is one way to...):

lie (be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Determine one's position with reference to another point

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

orient; orientate

Context example:

We had to orient ourselves in the forest

Hypernyms (to "orient" is one way to...):

decide; determine; make up one's mind (reach, make, or come to a decision about something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "orient"):

guide; guide on (use as a guide)

reorient; reorientate (orient once again, after a disorientation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Antonym:

disorient (cause to be lost or disoriented)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to point

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

Orient the house towards the West

Hypernyms (to "orient" is one way to...):

position (cause to be in an appropriate place, state, or relation)

Cause:

orient; point (be oriented)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "orient"):

stem (cause to point inward)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Familiarize (someone) with new surroundings or circumstances

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The dean of students tries to orient the freshmen

Hypernyms (to "orient" is one way to...):

acquaint; familiarise; familiarize (make familiar or conversant with)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Adjust to a specific need or market

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

orient; tailor

Context example:

tailor your needs to your surroundings

Hypernyms (to "orient" is one way to...):

accommodate; adapt (make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

On December 27, you will enjoy the Luckiest Day of the Year, and… your luck will be home or family oriented.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A beta strand is an extended polypeptide chain with the sidechains pointing away from the backbone and oriented on opposite sides of the backbone from one residue to another.

(Beta Strand, NCI Thesaurus)

Depending on how these galactic nuclei are oriented and what sort of material surrounds them, they appear very different when examined with telescopes.

(Black Holes Hide in Our Cosmic Backyard, NASA)

The HAQ-DI is a generic instrument which focuses on self-reported, patient-oriented outcome measures.

(Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index Questionnaire, NCI Thesaurus)

The scientists placed worms in vertically oriented tubes filled with a gel-like substance.

(Magnetic Field Sensor Unearthed in Worms, NIH)

Includes the laboratory-based development of new forms of technology, studies of health-related professions, institutions, and systems, excludes disease-oriented studies of material, obtained from patients who were unknown to investigators.

(Patient Oriented Research, NCI Thesaurus)

"Airplanes have a vertical tail to orient stably into the wind," said Lentink.

(Scientists discover how birds navigate crosswinds, National Science Foundation)

Depending on how these "doughnuts" are oriented in space, the black holes will take on various appearances.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)

We left Charing Cross on the morning of the 12th, got to Paris the same night, and took the places secured for us in the Orient Express.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They then used computer algorithms and image processing software to deduce the locations of the shock waves based on distortions of the background pattern—an approach called the background-oriented schlieren technique.

(Seeing Shock Waves, EARTH OBSERVATORY)