oriental

[ awr-ee-en-tl ]

adjective

1. Usually Oriental.
   1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Orient or the East, typically East Asia; Eastern:

      The living room had a gorgeous Oriental rug.

      In the late 1950s, the university began offering degrees in Oriental philosophy.

   2. Older Use: Often Disparaging and Offensive. (of a person or group of people) being from the East, typically East Asia; Asian. Asian
2. of the orient, or the eastern region of the world or heavens: stars in the oriental sky.

   oriental countries;

   stars in the oriental sky.

3. Oriental, Zoogeography. belonging to a geographical division comprising southern Asia and the Malay Archipelago as far as and including the Philippines, Borneo, and Java:

   This genera has twelve Oriental species, and two Australian ones.

4. Also Oriental. Jewelry.
   1. designating various gems that are varieties of corundum:

      oriental aquamarine;

      oriental ruby.

   2. fine or precious; orient:

      oriental agate;

      oriental garnet.

   3. designating certain natural saltwater pearls found especially in Asia.

noun

1. Usually Oriental. Older Use: Usually Disparaging and Offensive. a native or inhabitant of the Orient, or East.

oriental

¹

/ ˌɔːrɪˈɛntəl /

adjective

1. See occidental, eastern
   another word for eastern Compare occidental

Oriental

²

/ ˌɔːrɪˈɛntəl /

adjective

1. sometimes not capital of or relating to the Orient
2. of or denoting a zoogeographical region consisting of southeastern Asia from India to Borneo, Java, and the Philippines

noun

1. a breed of slender muscular cat with large ears, long legs, and a long tail
2. sometimes not capital an inhabitant, esp a native, of the Orient

Sensitive Note

Is it Asian, Asiatic, or Oriental? See Asian.

Other Words From

• o·ri·en·tal·ly adverb
• an·ti-O·ri·en·tal adjective noun
• half-o·ri·en·tal adjective
• non·o·ri·en·tal adjective noun
• pseu·do·o·ri·en·tal adjective
• qua·si-o·ri·en·tal adjective
• sem·i·o·ri·en·tal adjective
• un·o·ri·en·tal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of oriental¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin orientālis, from orient-, stem of oriēns “the east, sunrise,” literally, “rising” + -ālis, adjective suffix; equivalent to orient none + -al ¹none

Example Sentences

A choice Johnson says he made channeling a Harpo Marx type character, and not a “mysterious Oriental.”

From The Daily Beast

The mattresses are taken off the beds, making four low oriental divans.

From The Daily Beast

They screamed oriental abuse at the Korean perpetrator of the crime, and the Korean perpetrator screamed back.

From The Daily Beast

Malcolm lives in New York, in an apartment of wood floors and oriental carpets, overlooking Gramercy Park.

From The Daily Beast

On Nov. 8, The Norman Mailer Center will fete writers, both famous and not, at a gala at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York.

From The Daily Beast

Monotheism is strictly inconsistent with the supremacy of “merits” which is the very soul of Oriental religion.

From Project Gutenberg

He was professor of oriental languages; his dissertations on various subjects of criticism and antiquity were highly esteemed.

From Project Gutenberg

He was distinguished as an oriental scholar, and died while delivering an oration at the academy of Caen.

From Project Gutenberg

Whether this aptitude was combined with the sinuous cunning that is essentially Oriental Nigel did not know.

From Project Gutenberg

Joseph White, an eminent English divine, and oriental scholar, died.

From Project Gutenberg