orientation

American  

[awr-ee-uhn-tey-shuhn, -en-, ohr-] / ˌɔr i ənˈteɪ ʃən, -ɛn-, ˌoʊr- /

noun

1. the act or process of orienting.

2. the state of being oriented.

3. an introduction, as to guide one in adjusting to new surroundings, employment, activity, or the like.

   New employees receive two days of orientation.

4. Psychology, Psychiatry. the ability to locate oneself in one's environment with reference to time, place, and people.

5. one's position in relation to true north, to points on the compass, or to a specific place or object.

6. the ascertainment of one's true position, as in a novel situation, with respect to attitudes, judgments, etc.

7. Chemistry.

   1. the relative positions of certain atoms or groups, especially in aromatic compounds.

   2. the determination of the position of substituted atoms or groups in a compound.

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orientation British  

/ ˌɔːrɪɛnˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of orienting or the state of being oriented

2. position or positioning with relation to the points of the compass or other specific directions

3. the adjustment or alignment of oneself or one's ideas to surroundings or circumstances

4. Also called: orientation course. 

   1. a course, programme, lecture, etc, introducing a new situation or environment

   2. ( as modifier )

      an orientation talk

5. psychol the knowledge of one's own temporal, social, and practical circumstances in life

6. basic beliefs or preferences

   sexual orientation

7. biology the change in position of the whole or part of an organism in response to a stimulus, such as light

8. chem the relative dispositions of atoms, ions, or groups in molecules or crystals

9. the siting of a church on an east-west axis, usually with the altar at the E end

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Other Word Forms

• nonorientation noun
• orientational adjective
• orientative adjective

Etymology

Origin of orientation

First recorded in 1830–40; orientate + -ion

Example Sentences

On a recent morning at Barcelona High, 30 new families were on a lower floor for an orientation.

From The Wall Street Journal

As I’m seemingly force-fed curling every time I turn on the Winter Olympics, I have no orientation as to what it takes to be a good curler.

From Los Angeles Times

More recently, smartphones have given rise to short videos in an untraditional vertical orientation, like TikTok and YouTube Shorts.

From Barron's

In their latest work, they found that simply adjusting the orientation and position of a single cancer targeting peptide significantly strengthened the immune system's ability to attack tumors.

From Science Daily

She’d done fine in school and at the Sky Trails orientation.

From Literature

Related Words

• direction
• location