oriental
- (usually initial capital letter) of, relating to, or characteristic of the Orient, or East; Eastern.
- of the orient, or the eastern region of the world or heavens: oriental countries;stars in the oriental sky.
- (initial capital letter) Zoogeography. belonging to a geographical division comprising southern Asia and the Malay Archipelago as far as and including the Philippines, Borneo, and Java.
- Jewelry.
- (usually initial capital letter)designating various gems that are varieties of corundum: Oriental aquamarine; Oriental ruby.
- fine or precious; orient: oriental agate; oriental garnet.
- designating certain natural saltwater pearls found especially in Asia.
- (usually initial capital letter) Older Use: Usually Disparaging and Offensive. a native or inhabitant of the Orient, or East.
Origin of oriental
Usage note
Examples from the Web for oriental
Contemporary Examples of oriental
Malcolm lives in New York, in an apartment of wood floors and oriental carpets, overlooking Gramercy Park.
Old Anxieties Get a New Life: Artist Janet Malcolm Digs Up Ancient Case Files From a Mystery PsychiatristCasey Schwartz
December 31, 2011
Fatima Bhutto is a graduate of Columbia University and the School of Oriental and African Studies.
Fatima Bhutto is a graduate of Columbia University and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Historical Examples of oriental
I was just going down to the Oriental, but your dug-out wins me hands down.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Yet they behaved with Oriental composure and calmly accepted the inevitable.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
“A lying dog of some sort,” said Mr Vladimir in somewhat Oriental phraseology.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
Now, God and his father's fate made him intellectually inferior to the Oriental.
American NotesRudyard Kipling
The Israelite kissed it thrice with oriental veneration, and replaced it in his breast.
Leila, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
oriental
- another word for eastern Compare occidental
Oriental
- (sometimes not capital) of or relating to the Orient
- of or denoting a zoogeographical region consisting of southeastern Asia from India to Borneo, Java, and the Philippines
- a breed of slender muscular cat with large ears, long legs, and a long tail
- (sometimes not capital) an inhabitant, esp a native, of the Orient
Word Origin and History for oriental
late 14c., from Old French oriental "eastern, from the east" (12c.) and directly from Latin orientalis "of the east," from orientem (see Orient (n.)). Originally in reference to the sky, geographical sense is attested from late 15c.; oriental carpet first recorded 1868 (in C.Latin Eastlake).
Oriental
"native or inhabitant of the east," 1701, from oriental (adj.).