Standard Lemma guide

orientation

noun · 18 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /ˌoɹiɛnˈteɪʃən/
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /ˌoː.ɹi.ənˈtæɪ.ʃən/
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: AO2 R IY0 EH0 N T EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The determination of the relative position of something or someone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The relative physical position or direction of something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The construction of a Christian church to have its aisle in an east-west direction with the altar at the east end.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

An inclination, tendency or direction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The ability to orient, or the process of so doing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Examples

  • The homing instinct in pigeons is an example of orientation.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: disorientation

6

noun

Meaning 6

An adjustment to a new environment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

An introduction to a (new) environment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

An introduction to a (new) environment.

Events to orient new students at a school; events to help new students become familiar with a school.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: education

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

The direction of print across the page; landscape or portrait.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: media, publishing, typography

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

Ellipsis of sexual orientation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

The choice of which ordered bases are "positively" oriented and which are "negatively" oriented on a real vector space.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Qualifier: differential geometry

Topics: mathematical-analysis, mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

The designation of a parametrised curve as "positively" or "negatively" oriented; the analogous description of a surface or hypersurface.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: analytic, countable

Topics: geometry, mathematics, sciences, topology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

a course introducing a new situation or environment

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: orientation course

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: course, course of study, course of instruction, class

14

noun

Meaning 14

the act of orienting

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: placement, location, locating, position, positioning, emplacement

15

noun

Meaning 15

a person's awareness of self with regard to position and time and place and personal relationships

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: self-awareness

16

noun

Meaning 16

a predisposition in favor of something

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a predilection for expensive cars
  • his sexual preferences
  • showed a Marxist orientation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: predilection, preference

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: predisposition

17

noun

Meaning 17

an integrated set of attitudes and beliefs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: attitude, mental attitude

Narrower terms: wavelength, experimentalism, reorientation, position, view, perspective, orthodoxy, unorthodoxy, heterodoxy, heresy, political orientation, ideology, political theory, religious orientation

18

noun

Meaning 18

position or alignment relative to points of the compass or other specific directions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: direction

Narrower terms: attitude, horizontal, vertical, quarter

History

Etymology

From French orientation. By surface analysis, orient + -ation.

Across languages

Translations

105 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: կողմնորոշում (koġmnorošum) — the act of orienting
  • Bulgarian: ориентиране (orientirane) — the act of orienting
  • Catalan: orientació — the act of orienting
  • Dutch: oriëntatie — the act of orienting
  • Dutch: oriëntering — the act of orienting
  • Finnish: suuntaaminen — the act of orienting
  • Greek: προσανατολισμός (prosanatolismós) — the act of orienting
  • Hungarian: tájékozódás — the act of orienting
  • Italian: orientamento — the act of orienting
  • Macedonian: ориенти́рање (orientíranje) — the act of orienting
  • Portuguese: orientação — the act of orienting
  • Romanian: orientare — the act of orienting
  • Russian: ориентиро́вка (orijentiróvka) — the act of orienting
  • Russian: ориенти́рование (orijentírovanije) — the act of orienting
  • Spanish: orientación — the act of orienting
  • Tagalog: satungo — the act of orienting
  • Ukrainian: орієнта́ція (orijentácija) — the act of orienting
  • Armenian: կողմնորոշում (koġmnorošum) — position relative to compass bearings
  • Bulgarian: ориентация (orientacija) — position relative to compass bearings
  • Catalan: orientació — position relative to compass bearings
  • Dutch: oriëntatie — position relative to compass bearings
  • Dutch: plaatsbepaling — position relative to compass bearings
  • Dutch: richting — position relative to compass bearings
  • Finnish: suunta — position relative to compass bearings
  • Greek: προσανατολισμός (prosanatolismós) — position relative to compass bearings
  • Hungarian: betájolás — position relative to compass bearings
  • Italian: posizione — position relative to compass bearings
  • Japanese: 方位 (hōi) — position relative to compass bearings
  • Macedonian: ориента́ција (orientácija) — position relative to compass bearings
  • Portuguese: orientação — position relative to compass bearings
  • Russian: ориента́ция (orijentácija) — position relative to compass bearings
  • Dutch: kerkbouwrichting — the oriented construction of a Christian church
  • Italian: orientamento — the oriented construction of a Christian church
  • Russian: размеще́ние (razmeščénije) — the oriented construction of a Christian church
  • Russian: устано́вка (ustanóvka) — the oriented construction of a Christian church
  • Armenian: կողմնորոշում (koġmnorošum) — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Azerbaijani: yonümlülük — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Bulgarian: склонност (sklonnost) — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Catalan: orientació — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Dutch: oriëntatie — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Dutch: gerichtheid — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Finnish: taipumus — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Finnish: suuntaus — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Hungarian: irány — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Hungarian: orientáció — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Italian: direzione — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Macedonian: скло́ност (sklónost) — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Macedonian: на́клоност (náklonost) — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Macedonian: ориента́ција (orientácija) — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Romanian: orientare — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Romanian: înclinație — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Russian: ориента́ция (orijentácija) — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Russian: накло́нность (naklónnostʹ) — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Russian: скло́нность (sklónnostʹ) — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Spanish: orientación — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Ukrainian: орієнта́ція (orijentácija) — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Welsh: tueddfryd — an inclination, tendency or direction
  • Bulgarian: ориентация (orientacija) — ability to orient
  • Catalan: orientació — ability to orient
  • Dutch: oriënteringsvermogen — ability to orient
  • Finnish: suunnistus — ability to orient
  • German: Orientierungsvermögen — ability to orient
  • Italian: orientamento — ability to orient
  • Italian: orienteering — ability to orient
  • Polish: orientacja — ability to orient
  • Romanian: orientare — ability to orient
  • Spanish: orientación — ability to orient
  • Bulgarian: въведение (vǎvedenie) — introduction to a new environment
  • Catalan: orientació — introduction to a new environment
  • Chinese Mandarin: 新生訓練 /新生训练 — introduction to a new environment
  • Dutch: oriëntatie — introduction to a new environment
  • Dutch: voorlichting — introduction to a new environment
  • Finnish: perehdytys — introduction to a new environment
  • Finnish: orientaatio — introduction to a new environment
  • Greek: κατατοπισμός (katatopismós) — introduction to a new environment
  • Italian: orientamento — introduction to a new environment
  • Japanese: 指導 (shidō) — introduction to a new environment
  • Japanese: オリエンテーション (orientēshon) — introduction to a new environment
  • Korean: 오리엔테이션 (orienteisyeon) — introduction to a new environment
  • Portuguese: orientação — introduction to a new environment
  • Romanian: orientare — introduction to a new environment
  • Spanish: orientación — introduction to a new environment
  • Tagalog: lantangan — introduction to a new environment
  • Bulgarian: свикване (svikvane) — adjustment to a new environment
  • Dutch: oriëntering — adjustment to a new environment
  • Finnish: sopeutuminen — adjustment to a new environment
  • Greek: προσαρμογή (prosarmogí) — adjustment to a new environment
  • Bulgarian: ориентация (orientacija) — the direction of print across the page
  • Dutch: oriëntatie — the direction of print across the page
  • Finnish: suunta — the direction of print across the page
  • Greek: προσανατολισμός (prosanatolismós) — the direction of print across the page
  • Italian: direzione — the direction of print across the page
  • Spanish: orientación — the direction of print across the page
  • Bulgarian: ориентация (orientacija) — (analysis, differential geometry)
  • Dutch: oriëntatie — (analysis, differential geometry)
  • Finnish: orientaatio — (analysis, differential geometry)
  • Greek: προσανατολισμός (prosanatolismós) — (analysis, differential geometry)
  • Italian: orientazione — (analysis, differential geometry)
  • Russian: ориента́ция (orijentácija) — (analysis, differential geometry)
  • Bulgarian: ориентация (orientacija) — (analytic geometry, topology)
  • Dutch: oriëntatie — (analytic geometry, topology)
  • Finnish: orientaatio — (analytic geometry, topology)
  • Greek: προσανατολισμός (prosanatolismós) — (analytic geometry, topology)
  • Italian: orientazione — (analytic geometry, topology)
  • Russian: ориента́ция (orijentácija) — (analytic geometry, topology)
Real reading context

orientation in complete knowledge articles