Definition of ORIENTATE

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Orientate is a synonym of "orient," and it has attracted criticism as a consequence. "Orient," which dates from the mid-18th century, is in fact the older of the two verbs - "orientate" joined the language in the mid-19th century. Both can mean "to cause to face toward the east" (and, not surprisingly, they are related to the noun Orient, meaning "the East"). Both also have broader meanings that relate to setting or determining direction or position, either literally or figuratively. Some critics dislike "orientate" because it is one syllable longer than "orient," but you can decide for yourself how important that consideration is to you. Personal choice is the primary deciding factor, although "orientate" tends to be used more often in British English than it is in American English.

Examples of orientate in a Sentence

a program that helps to orientate new students She needs to orientate herself to her new job.

Recent Examples on the Web The first thing to look for is what’s called the square of Pegasus, although this time of year the square is orientated diagonally in the sky, so look for a giant diamond of four stars about halfway up in the east-southeastern sky. — Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, "Mike Lynch: The flying horse of autumn is on a rescue mission," 20 Oct. 2019 To many, the discussion was long overdue in male orientated South Korea, which ranks well below the global average on the 2018 Global Gender Gap report, with major disparities in terms of wage equality and earned income for women. — Jake Kwon, CNN, "South Korea's young men are fighting back against feminism," 21 Sep. 2019 Tumblr has been noted for having a permissive attitude towards NSFW and adult-orientated content on its service, which has previously caused it to be briefly banned in Indonesia. — Jon Porter, The Verge, "Tumblr was removed from Apple’s App Store over child pornography issues," 20 Nov. 2018 For once, Cardiff were the butt of most jokes from football fans everywhere and surprisingly the jokes weren't all sheep orientated. — SI.com, "From Hero to Villain to Hero Again: The Vincent Tan Journey," 8 July 2018 The videos will be vertically-orientated, full-screen, up to 4K resolution, and as long as 60 minutes (instead of the current limit of 60 seconds). — James Vincent, The Verge, "Instagram reportedly launching ‘IGTV’ video hub for online creators later today," 20 June 2018 Speaking to the Inquirer and Daily News, Harris said his role with NBC Sports Philadelphia changed back in September, leading him to do more digitally-orientated work involving podcasts and Facebook Live segments. — Rob Tornoe, Philly.com, "Marshall Harris out at NBC Sports Philadelphia," 9 Apr. 2018 This alignment, according to Tim Pauketat, professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois, is tied to the summer solstice sunrise and the southern maximum moonrise, orientating Cahokia to the movement of both the sun and the moon. — Sarah E. Baires, Smithsonian, "White Settlers Buried the Truth About the Midwest’s Mysterious Mound Cities," 23 Feb. 2018 Paul, 22, is one of YouTube's top content creators, regularly drawing millions of views from his mainly youth-orientated audience. — NBC News, "YouTube pares back Logan Paul partnership after suicide video post," 11 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'orientate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.