- Orient (n.)
- c.1300, "the East" (originally usually meaning what is now called the Mid-East), from O.Fr. orient (11c.), from L. orientem (nom. oriens) "the rising sun, the east, part of the sky where the sun rises," originally "rising" (adj.), prp. of oriri "to rise" (see orchestra). The Orient Express was a train that ran from Paris to Istanbul via Vienna 1883-1961, from the start associated with espionage and intrigue. Oriental (adj.) is attested from c.1391, from O.Fr. oriental (12c.), from L. orientalis "of the east," from orientem. Originally in ref. to the sky, geographical sense is attested from c.1477; oriental carpet first recorded 1868 (in C.L. Eastlake). The noun meaning "native or inhabitant of the east" is from 1701. Orientalism in ref. to character, style, trait, or idiom felt to be from the Orient is from 1769.
- orient (v.)
- c.1727, originally "to arrange facing east," from Fr. s'orienter "to take one's bearings," lit. "to face the east" (also the source of Ger. orientierung), from O.Fr. orient "east," from L. orientum (see Orient (n.)). Meaning "determine bearings" first attested 1842; fig. sense is from 1850. Orienteering in ref. to a competitive sport is attested from 1948. Orientation is from 1839 and originally meant "arrangement of a building, etc., to face east or any other specified direction;" sense of "the action of determining one's bearings" is from 1868.