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# orientation

«orientation» in Mova's school dictionary: **The direction something faces or points: north, south…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (orientation, orientations; an orientation)

### meaning for a pupil

1) The direction something faces or points: north, south, up, sideways. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#m1)

2) (school) A short welcome time or tour that helps new pupils or workers learn their way around. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#m2)

3) (maps, maths) Finding your way using a map and compass; or how a shape is turned. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#m3)

4) (formal) A person's basic beliefs, interests or who they are attracted to (as in «sexual orientation»). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In maths, the orientation of a shape changes when you rotate or reflect it; a page can be portrait or landscape orientation. In geography and outdoor education, orienteering is a sport of finding your way with a map. In school, «orientation day» welcomes new students. Phrases: «portrait/landscape orientation», «orientation day», «sense of orientation», «sexual orientation».

### examples

- Turn the page to landscape orientation for your graph. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#x1)
- The new pupils had an orientation tour of the school. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#x2)
- After the shape is rotated, its orientation changes but its size stays the same. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#x3)
- Use the compass to check the orientation of the map. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#x4)
- The house has a south-facing orientation, so it gets lots of sun. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#x5)
- Freshers' week at university begins with orientation. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/#x6)

### note

Countable and uncountable. Verb: orient (US) / orientate (UK). Related: orienteering. Maths: rotations and reflections change orientation; translations do not. «Sexual orientation» is a respectful formal phrase used in law and health.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «orientation» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/orientation/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.