orientation

Orientation is someone knowing where they are, the direction someone is facing or the way someone tends to go.

(noun)

  1. An example of orientation is a person attending a training session for new employees.
  2. An example of orientation is a person facing west.
  3. An example of orientation is a man preferring to date men.

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See orientation in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. an orienting or being oriented
    1. position with relation to the points of the compass
    2. the planning of church architecture so that the altar is in the east end
  2. familiarization with and adaptation to a situation or environment; specif.,
    1. Psychol. awareness of one's environment as to time, space, objects, and persons
    2. a period or process of introduction and adjustment
  3. a tendency to respond or act in a certain way with respect to a particular person, situation, phenomenon, etc.: one's sexual orientation
  4. Biol. the position or change of position of an organism or part under a stimulus such as gravity or light
  5. Chem.
    1. the position and arrangement of atoms or radicals in a molecule
    2. the ordering of molecules, crystals, etc. so that the axes point in a particular direction

See orientation in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. The act of orienting or the state of being oriented.
  2. Location or position relative to the points of the compass.
  3. The construction of a church so that its longitudinal axis has an east-west direction with the main altar usually at the eastern end.
  4. The direction followed in the course of a trend, movement, or development.
  5. A tendency of thought; a general inclination: a Marxist orientation.
  6. Sexual orientation.
  7. a. An adjustment or adaptation to a new environment, situation, custom, or set of ideas.
    b. Introductory instruction concerning a new situation: orientation for incoming students.
  8. Psychology Awareness of the objective world in relation to one's self.

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