Orientality

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The characteristic or nature of being linked to the eastern world, often involving cultural, historical, or geographical contexts of the East in relation to other regions
2. A defining quality that encompasses the cultural and historical elements originating from the eastern parts of the globe and their impact elsewhere
3. The quality or state that pertains to the cultural, historical, or geographical traits associated with the eastern regions as they relate to the rest of the world

Etymology: "Orientality" is a plain formation: the adjective "oriental" with the suffix "-ity," which turns an adjective into a noun naming a quality or state, much as "sensibility" comes from "sensible" or "hostility" from "hostile." The adjective "oriental" is itself a loan from Latin "orientalis," meaning "of the east" or "eastern," built on "oriens," the rising sun, from the Latin verb "oriri," to rise. Europeans used the adjective for centuries to describe lands east of the Mediterranean and beyond, so "oriental-ity" naturally gathered the sense of an entire quality attributed to that region. Because the noun is derived so transparently, its meaning follows its parts. The word names the defining character of things associated with the East, whether that character is a set of traditions or a pattern of influence felt in the West. The noun's sense is the adjective's sense made abstract, so it carries the same Eurocentric geography embedded in "oriental" itself, a point worth remembering when the word is used.

Synonyms: orientalism, eastern character, Asian culture, far eastern culture, exoticism

Antonyms: westernization, occidentalism, Eurocentrism, modernity, globalization