Oriental

See also: oriental

English

Alternative forms

• oriental

Etymology

From Middle English oriental, from Anglo-Norman oriental, Middle French oriental, from Latin orientālis (“eastern”), from oriēns (“rising (of the Sun)”), present active participle of orior (“I rise”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɔːɹiˈɛntəl/, /ɒɹiˈɛntəl/
• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

Adjective

Oriental (comparative more Oriental, superlative most Oriental)

1. Of a pearl or other precious stone: having a superior lustre. [from 14th c.]
2. (astronomy, astrology) Pertaining to the eastern part of the sky; happening before sunrise. [from 14th c.]
3. (obsolete) Happening in the eastern part of a given place or location. [15th–19th c.]
4. Pertaining to the regions east of the Mediterranean, beyond the Roman Empire or the early Christian world; of the Near East, the Middle East or the Far East, now especially relating to East Asia. [from 15th c.]
5. Designating various types of aromatic tobacco grown in Turkey and the Balkans. [from 19th c.]

Derived terms

• AADAOPA
• Oriental Asian
• Oriental carpet
• Oriental darter
• Oriental fruit moth
• Oriental greenfinch
• Orientalism, orientalism
• Orientalist, orientalist
• orientality
• Orientalize/Orientalise, orientalize/orientalise
• Oriental poppy
• Oriental radish, oriental radish
• Oriental Region
• Oriental rug, oriental rug
• Oriental stork
• Oriental tobacco
• oriental tongue
• oriental turquoise

 

Related terms

• orientate
• orientally
• orientational

Translations

of or relating to the Orient or Asia, especially the Far East

• Arabic: شَرْقِيّ (šarqiyy)
• Armenian: արևելյան (hy) (arewelyan)
• Bulgarian: източен (bg) (iztočen), ориенталски (orientalski)
• Catalan: oriental (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 東方／东方 (zh) (dōngfāng)

• Dutch: oriëntaal (nl), oosters (nl)
• Finnish: itämainen (fi), orientaalinen (fi)
• French: oriental (fr) m
• Galician: oriental (gl)
• German: orientalisch (de)
• Greek: ασιατικός (el) m (asiatikós)
• Hungarian: keleti (hu)
• Italian: orientale (it)
• Japanese: 東洋の (ja) (とうようの, tōyō no), 東方 (ja) (とうほうの, tōhō no)
• Malay: Timur, ketimuran (ms)
• Polish: orientalny (pl)
• Portuguese: oriental (pt)
• Russian: восто́чный (ru) (vostóčnyj)
• Turkish: doğu (tr), oryantal (tr), şarki (tr)

Noun

Oriental (plural Orientals)

1. A precious stone, especially an orient pearl. [from 14th c.]
2. A member or descendant of the peoples and cultures of the Orient. [from 15th c.]
   • 2022, Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Vintage (2023), page 200:

     He looked at her face. He ran his index finger down the bridge of her nose.
     “Exotic. The last one was an Oriental, too.”
     “Orientals are rugs and furniture,” Anna said. “Not people.”

3. A lily cultivar of a widely varied group, with strong scent.
4. (archaic) A person from the eastern region of a place. [15th–19th c.]
   • 1848, National anthem of Uruguay

     Orientals, the Fatherland or the grave, Liberty or with glory we die!

Usage notes

• Use of the term Oriental to describe a person is considered dated and potentially offensive in North America.

Synonyms

See Thesaurus:Asian

Translations

person

• Bulgarian: ориенталец m (orientalec)
• Catalan: oriental (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 東方人／东方人 (zh) (dōngfāngrén)

• Dutch: Oosterling m
• Finnish: itämaalainen
• French: Oriental (fr) m
• Galician: oriental (gl)
• German: Ostler (de) m, Ostlerin (de) f, Orientale (de) m, Orientalin (de) f
• Greek: ανατολίτης (el) m (anatolítis), Ασιάτης (el) m (Asiátis)
• Malay: orang Timur
• Navajo: Binááʼádaałtsʼózí dineʼé
• Portuguese: oriental (pt) m or f
• Russian: жи́тель Восто́ка m (žítelʹ Vostóka), жи́тельница Восто́ка f (žítelʹnica Vostóka) (inhabitant), уроже́нец Восто́ка m (urožénec Vostóka), уроже́нка Восто́ка f (urožénka Vostóka)
• Turkish: doğulu (tr), şarklı (tr)

See also

• austral
• boreal
• Asia
• Asiatic
• East Asia
• Far East
• Middle East
• Occident
• occidental
• Persia
• Persian rug

Anagrams

• Tirolean, relation, taileron, tenorial

Dutch

Noun

Oriental m (plural Orientals)

1. an Oriental lily