orient

Forms

orient n (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French orient, with Latin oriēns and German Orient as further sources, the three that DEX, MDA2 and DLR name.^[2][3][4] DN gives the French word and compares Italian oriente and the Latin.^[5] Scriban derives it from Latin alone.^[6]

The Latin word is the present participle of orior (“to rise”); as a noun it meant the rising sun, daybreak, and the east.^[7][8][1] French borrowed it in 1080, first in the geographical sense.^[9] The German word was borrowed from Latin in the 12th century, probably from phrases such as in oriente sole (“towards the rising sun”).^[10] Graur places it in the Latin verb's family with origine, orienta and oriental.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Săulescu's reader of 1832, in the sense “east”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Negulici (1848) defined it as the point of the sky where the sun rises, “the east”.^[12] Costinescu (1870) adds the parts of the globe lying to the east of the observer.^[13] Early 20th-century dictionaries apply it to the lands of eastern Asia, with extremul Orient “the Far East” for China and Japan and chestiunea Orientului “the Eastern Question”, the dispute among European states over the Straits.^[14][15] Scriban adds Marele Orient “the Grand Orient”, the central lodge of the Freemasons.^[6] The DLRLC gives Orientul mijlociu “the Middle East” for Turkey, Syria, Iran and Egypt.^[16]

Timeline

• 1832 – first record, in Săulescu.^[3][4]
• 1848 – Negulici: the point where the sun rises.^[12]
• 1870 – Costinescu: the eastern parts of the globe.^[13]
• 1929 – extremul Orient and chestiunea Orientului.^[14]
• 1939 – Marele Orient, the Masonic lodge.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The east, one of the four cardinal points, where the sun rises; the opposite of occident.^[2][3]
2. (by extension) The region lying east of a point of reference, especially Asia and eastern Africa;^[2][16] Orientul mijlociu “the Middle East”, Extremul Orient “the Far East”.^[2][16]
3. The countries or peoples of that region, the Orient.^[2][3]

Related words

• oriental
• orienta
• origine
• Latin oriēns

Usage notes

The word is pronounced with the i and e in separate syllables, o-ri-ent.^[2] Its plural, orienturi, is rare.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 751
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 225
4. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. orient
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. orient
6. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 910
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
11. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
12. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. orient
13. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 217
14. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 448
15. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. orient
16. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 284