Orienting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Establishing the correct direction or spatial position ; helping someone become familiar with a new environment or set of information
2. Finding one's directional bearings or relative placement ; introducing or acclimating someone to unfamiliar conditions or concepts
3. Setting or identifying a location relative to points of reference ; guiding or instructing someone to understand and adjust to new surroundings or knowledge

Etymology: The verb "orienting" comes from "orient," which goes back to Latin "oriens," the present participle of "orior," meaning "to rise." In Latin, "oriens" was the sunrise or the east, the direction where the sun appears each morning. That sense of rising is what gives the word its original meaning. The Latin term passed into Middle English as a noun for the eastern sky and eastern lands, and from there the word took on a practical role. Sailors, travellers and mapmakers were concerned with the east, the point from which the sun rose and from which they could fix their bearings. Turning a map or a building to face east became a way of setting oneself right in space. The verb itself was formed in French, where "orienter" meant to set something toward the east, and to guide or to set to north. English took the idea of positioning oneself by a known direction, so "to orient" came to mean finding one's bearings, and the sense of simply understanding one's place or situation grew from it.

Synonyms: aligning, positioning, directing, situating, locating

Antonyms: disorienting, confusing