Reorientating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Altering the position or direction of something to face a different way
2. Adjusting or realigning the angle or layout to a new orientation
3. Shifting the alignment or direction of an object or viewpoint to another angle

Etymology: "Reorientating" is the present participle of "reorientate," which is formed by attaching the prefix "re-" ("again" or "back") to "orientate." Orientate itself is a verb built from "orient," and that base traces back to the Latin "oriens," meaning "rising" or "east," because early maps and churches were aligned with the east as the point of reference. To orient something was, literally, to turn it toward the east, and the sense of finding one's bearings broadened from there. The -ate ending on "orientate" is a suffix that turns a noun or adjective into a verb, which is why the form is often said to be a rival to "orient" as a verb. Both verbs are in use, with "orient" the more common in most varieties of English. "Reorientate" and its participle "reorientating" simply add the sense of turning something back into alignment, so the word is a plain compound with no dramatic shift in meaning along the way.

Synonyms: realigning, adjusting, repositioning, redirecting, restructuring