# orientation

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˌɔɹiɛnˈteɪʃən/ · frequency rank #6,601

## Definitions
1. The determination of the relative position of something or someone.
2. The relative physical position or direction of something.
3. The construction of a Christian church to have its aisle in an east-west direction with the altar at the east end.
4. An inclination, tendency or direction.
5. The ability to orient, or the process of so doing.
6. An adjustment to a new environment.
7. An introduction to a (new) environment.
8. An introduction to a (new) environment.
9. The direction of print across the page; landscape or portrait.
10. Ellipsis of sexual orientation.
11. The choice of which ordered bases are "positively" oriented and which are "negatively" oriented on a real vector space.
12. The designation of a parametrised curve as "positively" or "negatively" oriented; the analogous description of a surface or hypersurface.

## Etymology
From French orientation. By surface analysis, orient + -ation.

## Common misspellings (16)
`oirentation`, `oreintation`, `orienattion`, `orienntation`, `orientaiton`, `orientasion`, `orientatino`, `orientationn`, `orientatoin`, `orientattion`, `orienttaion`, `orienttation`, `orietnation`, `orinetation`, `orrientation`, `roientation`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/orientation