Orientating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of identifying one's location with respect to the surroundings involves adjusting to a specific context and providing guidance for navigation through that environment
2. The process of finding one's bearing by recognizing landmarks or features in the environment
3. Identifying spatial location within a setting to understand direction and place

Etymology: "Orientating" is the present participle of "orientate," a verb that grew out of "orient," the word for the eastern quarter of the sky. The eastern direction mattered because medieval Christians built churches facing east and aligned themselves to the rising sun, so to "orient" a map or oneself meant to turn toward the east, and by extension to find one's bearings. The verb "orientate" was formed by adding the suffix "-ate" to "orient," a pattern that produces many English verbs from nouns and adjectives. It may also be a back-formation from "orientation," meaning the two words developed in parallel. Its French cousin "orienter" and Italian "orientare" show the same pattern across neighboring languages. Its sense of settling into a surrounding context, as in "orientating new staff to the company," extends the original compass meaning from geography to people and situations.

Synonyms: positioning, locating, aligning, situating, INVALID