orientalist (orientalist)

[= F. orient a liste = Sp. Pg. orientalist a; as oriental + -ist.] 1. [ cap. or l. c.] An inhabitant of some eastern part of the world; an Oriental. Who can tell how far the orientalists were wont to adorn their parables? Le Clere, Comment on Job xlii. 14. (Latham.) 2. [ cap .] One who is versed in the languages and literature of the East: opposed to Occiden talist . There is not so much difference between the literary and popular dialects of Arabic as some European Orientalists have supposed. E. W. Lane , Modern Egyptians, I. 263. orientalitył (ō"ri-en-tal'i-ti), n. [ oriental + -ity.] The quality of being oriental, or of rising in the east. Whose [the sun's] revolution being regular, it hath no power nor efficacy peculiar from its orientallity , but equal ly disperseth his beames unto all which equally, and in the same restriction, receive his lustre. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., vi. 7. orientalize (ō-ri-en'tal-iz), v. t.; pret. and pp. orientalized, ppr. orientalizing. [ liser, as orientalize. To render oriental; impart an oriental character to; conform to Oriental manners or character. Also spelled orientalise. Const an tine... transferred the seat of his government to Byzantium, and thus fixed the policy of oriental izing and dividing the empire. Schaly, Hist. Christ. Church, III. § 2. orientally (ō-ri-en'tal-i), adv. 1. In the orient orientaynardance with Eastern orient act eristics or customs. orientate (ō-ri-en'tāt), v.; pret. and pp. orien tated, ppr. orientating.r ML. orient at us, PP. of *orient are, the east: see orient, v.] I. trans. 1. To turn or cause to turn to ward the east; cause to a ume an easterly direction or aspect; orient; specifically, to place (a church) with its altar-end toward the east. See orient, v., 2.-2. To determine or ascertain the position of, especially with reference to the east; determine or fix the position or bearings of; figuratively, to take one's proper bearings mentally.-3. To place, as a crystal, in such a position as to show clearly the true relation of the several parts. II. in trans. 1. To a ume an easterly direction; turn or veer toward the east; specifically ( eccles .), to be so constructed that the end nearest the altar or high altar (ecclesiastically accounted the eastern end) is directed toward a certain point of the compa ; especially, to be so placed that the conventional eastern end is directed toward the geographical east. The only two instances in which it [orientation] is departed from [in the Eastern Church) are those of Haghios Georgios.. in Crete, which orientates north, and of the A soma to i in the Morea, which orientates south. J. M. Neale , Eastern Church, i. 222. 2. To worship toward the east; especially, to celebrate the eucharist in the eastward position -that is, facing the altar. See eastward, a. orientation (ō"ri-en-tā'shon), n. [F. orient a tion, 4154 (e) In crystal., the position of a crystal - of its faces, cleavage-planes, optic axes or elasticity, etc.-defined with reference to certain a umed directions, especially those of the crystallographic axes. 2. The proce of determining the points of the compa , or the east point, in taking bearings. Hence-3. The act of taking one's mental bearings; ascertainment of one's true position, as in a novel situation, or with reference to new ideas, new studies, etc., as if by determining the points of the compa . But let a man venture into an unfamiliar field, or where his results are not continually checked by experience, and all history shows that the most masculine intellect will ofttimes lose his orientation and waste his efforts in directions which bring him no nearer to his goal, or even carry him entirely astray. C. S. Peirce , in Pop. Sci. Mo., XII. 4. 4. The proce of determining direction or relative position in general. Tympanic sensibility plays no role in auditive orientaAmer. Jour. Psychol., I. 510. tion. 5. In crystal., the proce of placing a crystal in proper position so as to show the relation of its planes to the planes to the a umed axes.-6. In zoöl., the faculty or instinct by which birds and other animals find their way home after being carried to a distance. It is well illustrated by homing pigeons. (See homing.) A striking instance of orientation is also afforded by swallows. Thus, a swallow nesting in New England, for example, and wintering in Panama, can return to the rafter in the barn where its nest was the previous year. All the regular and periodical migrations of birds imply the faculty of orientation.