oriental

[awr-ee-en-tl]

adjective

1. Usually Oriental

   1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Orient or the East, typically East Asia; Eastern.

      The living room had a gorgeous Oriental rug.

      In the late 1950s, the university began offering degrees in Oriental philosophy.

   2. Older Use: Often Disparaging and Offensive.,  (of a person or group of people) being from the East, typically East Asia; Asian.

2. of the orient, or the eastern region of the world or heavens: stars in the oriental sky.

   oriental countries;

   stars in the oriental sky.

3. Zoogeography.,  Oriental, belonging to a geographical division comprising southern Asia and the Malay Archipelago as far as and including the Philippines, Borneo, and Java.

   This genera has twelve Oriental species, and two Australian ones.

4. Jewelry.,  Also Oriental

   1. designating various gems that are varieties of corundum.

      oriental aquamarine;

      oriental ruby.

   2. fine or precious; orient.

      oriental agate;

      oriental garnet.

   3. designating certain natural saltwater pearls found especially in Asia.

noun

1. Older Use: Usually Disparaging and Offensive.,  Usually Oriental a native or inhabitant of the Orient, or East.

Oriental

¹

/ ˌɔːrɪˈɛntəl /

adjective

1. (sometimes not capital) of or relating to the Orient

2. of or denoting a zoogeographical region consisting of southeastern Asia from India to Borneo, Java, and the Philippines

noun

1. a breed of slender muscular cat with large ears, long legs, and a long tail

2. (sometimes not capital) an inhabitant, esp a native, of the Orient

oriental

²

/ ˌɔːrɪˈɛntəl /

adjective

1. another word for eastern Compare occidental

Sensitive Note

Is it Asian, Asiatic, or Oriental? See Asian.

Other Word Forms

• orientally adverb
• anti-Oriental adjective
• half-oriental adjective
• nonoriental adjective
• pseudooriental adjective
• quasi-oriental adjective
• semioriental adjective
• unoriental adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Oriental¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin orientālis, from orient-, stem of oriēns “the east, sunrise,” literally, “rising” + -ālis, adjective suffix; equivalent to orient + -al ¹

Example Sentences

The hamlet of Yojuela is home to some 500 people — all of Indigenous Zapotec origins — who reside deep in the Sierra Madre Oriental, in Mexico’s southern Oaxaca state.

From Los Angeles Times

The day after the loss, the Oriental Sports Daily did not mince its words: "When the taste of bitterness reaches its extreme, all that is left is numbness."

From BBC

In southern Misamis Oriental province, a villager died when a tree fell and struck a motorcycle taxi she was riding on with her sister as they were on their way to school, police said.

From Seattle Times

The two-story library has Oriental rugs, shaded lamps dotting its desks and rows of hardbacks lining its walls.

From New York Times

But the Oriental side as something to endure.

From Salon