Orientations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The different arrangements or placements of objects or ideas in relation to each other can reflect multiple viewpoints
2. The specific direction or arrangement of something relative to its surroundings ; an individual's or group's particular set of preferences, attitudes, or tendencies
3. How something is positioned or aligned in a physical or conceptual context ; the established inclination or bias of a person or collective toward certain ideas or behaviors

Etymology: The plural of "orientation," which took its sense of "alignment with surroundings" from a much older idea of facing east. "Orient" comes from Latin "oriens," the rising sun, and medieval builders oriented churches so that the altar faced the east. English borrowed "orientation" from French, where "orientation" had already developed the sense of finding one's direction, and the word came to English as a term for locating oneself relative to the points of the compass. Over time the sense widened. Once a person or object could be placed relative to the east, the same idea applied to any fixed reference point, so the word came to describe how something is positioned relative to its surroundings, and later how a person stands in relation to a situation or to other people. The English word is built from "orient" plus the suffix "-ation," which turns a verb into a noun of action or state.

Synonyms: directions, positions, alignments