Orient, n. and a.
(ˈɔərɪənt)
Also orient.
[a. F. orient (11th c. in Littré), ad. L. oriens, orient-em rising sun, east, n. use of oriens ‘rising’, pr. pple. of orī-rī to rise. Opposed, in senses A. 1, 2, B. 1, to Occident.]
A. n.
1. That region of the heavens in which the sun and other heavenly bodies rise, or the corresponding region of the world, or quarter of the compass; the east. Now poetic or rhet.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 636 And firy Phebus riseth vp so brighte That al the Orient laugheth of the lighte. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 247 He shulde make his sacrifice..on knees down bent Thre sithes toward orient. 1420, 1483 [see Occident A. 1]. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxviii. (1845) 134 Seynge the cloudes rayed fayre and rede Of Phebus rysinge in the orient. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 349 The Mexicans..sawe flames of fire toward the Orient, where now Vera Cruz standeth. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. vii, Lo! in the orient when the gracious light Lifts up his burning head. 1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 2 All the ruddy Orient flames with day. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iii. 2 Morn..Came furrowing all the orient into gold. |
2. That part of the earth's surface situated to the east of some recognized point of reference; eastern countries, or the eastern part of a country; the East; usually, those countries immediately east of the Mediterranean or of Southern Europe, which to the Romans were ‘the East’, the countries of South-western Asia or of Asia generally (cf. oriental A. 3); occas., in mod. American use, Europe or the Eastern Hemisphere. Now poetic or literary.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 3 Perle plesaunte..Oute of oryent I hardyly saye, Ne proued I neuer her precios pere. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's T. 324 They conquered manye regnes grete In the Orient. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 2057 A fulle Ryche Aparaylmente..That wroght was in the oryente. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 296 Tua Saxone kingis of the Orient Of Ingland. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 4257 For Orient and Occident To thame were all obedient. 1612 Brerewood Lang. & Relig. i. 9 The diocess of the orient..contained Syria, Palestine, Cilicia, and part of Mesopotamia and of Arabia. 1676 Cudworth Disc. Lord's Supper ii. 15 Another sect..famous in the orient. 1849 Clough Amours de Voy. v. 7 Sicily, Greece, will invite, and the Orient. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 40 Annual voyages to that vague Orient known as Down East. 1890 Century Mag. 103/1 He was sent as consul to the Orient. |
b. pearl of orient: = orient pearl, oriental pearl; a pearl from the Indian seas, as distinguished from those of less beauty found in European mussels; hence, a brilliant or precious pearl: see quot. 13.. above; cf. B. 2 and oriental A. 4.
| a 1440 Sir Degrev. 650 A front endent With peyrl of orient. 1700 Congreve Way of World i. ix, As dim by thee, as a dead whiting's eye by a pearl of orient. |
3. Rising (of the sun, or the daylight); sunrise, dayspring, dawn; also fig. Now rare or Obs.
| 1582 N. T. (Rhem.) Luke i. 78 In which the Orient from on high hath visited vs. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden James II Wks. (1711) 37 His life having set in the orient of his age and hopes. 1651 C. Cartwright Cert. Relig. i. 28 In whose light the people should walke, and kings in the brightnesse of her Orient. 1842 Mrs. Browning Grk. Chr. Poets (1863) 109 From the orient of the sun. 1850 Neale Med. Hymns (1867) 171 Draw nigh Thou Orient, Who shalt cheer And comfort by Thine Advent here. |
4. Short for ‘pearl of orient’ or ‘orient pearl’: see 2 b.
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. ii. (1858) 5 A very Sea of Thought..wherein the toughest pearl-diver may dive..and return not only with sea-wreck but with true orients. 1840 Browning Sordello iii. 258 What spoils an orient like some speck Of genuine white, turning its own white grey? |
5. The colour or peculiar lustre of a pearl of the best quality: see quot. 1755. rare.
| 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 32 Orient, the fine naker or mother of pearle colour, which is seen on some shells. 1861 Templebar Mag. III. 391 The British pearls are from the mussel, not the oyster; as are also the Bohemian, which are likewise deficient in brilliancy and ‘orient’. |
6. Orient Express, the name of a train which ran (from 1883 to 1961) between Paris and Istanbul and other Balkan cities, via Vienna, and of its successors (see quots. 1961, 1977). Also attrib. in fig. sense, in allusion to its association with espionage and intrigue.
| 1883 Times 2 Nov. 10/1 A small folded card,..the back giving the timetable of the journey up to Constantinople,..and the front, under the heading ‘Orient Express’, the direction ‘M.—is requested to take his seat, in carriage—, bed No.—’. 1904 A. E. Housman Let. 23 Sept. (1971) 75, I can pay the sum they ask, but I very much object to, as Constantinople and the Orient Express are both pretty expensive. 1920 Cornh. Mag. Jan. 23 From Paris onwards, my three days journey was happily in the diplomatic train, the one-time Orient Express. 1925 C. Connolly Let. May in Romantic Friendship (1975) 81, I was thinking of..vanishing on the orient express. 1937 E. Ambler Uncommon Danger i. 24 He could see a destination board on..one of the sleeping cars—Wien, Buda-Pesth, Belgrade, Sofia, Istanbul. The Orient Express looked warm and luxurious inside. 1960 O. Manning Great Fortune i. 5 The day before had been spent on familiar territory, even if the Orient Express had kept to no schedule. 1961 Guardian 29 May 11/3 The Orient Express is no more. After 78 years of existence the train..is today [May 28] on its last journey from the Gare de l'Est station here [Paris] to Bucharest. 1965 Observer 16 May 9/1 Amateurish-sounding Orient Express techniques..are widely used... Master agent Lonsdale passed messages via drawing pins stuck..in a Lyons Corner House. 1977 Daily Tel. 2 May 6 (Advt.), Thursday, 19th May, 1977, will mark the death of a legend... On that day..The Orient Express..will begin its final run... On 22nd May the great train comes to rest in Istanbul's Sirkeci Station. 1977 Ibid. 19 May 10/8 The train, known since 1969 as the ‘Direct-Orient’, goes..to Belgrade, where first- and second-class coaches, including sleepers, separate. One section then heads for Athens and the other for Istanbul. After tonight there will be no through coaches to Athens or the Bosphorus... All that will be left..will be the Simplon Express from Paris Gare de Lyon to..Belgrade. The sole survivor of the original northern route, still wistfully and only symbolically labelled ‘Orient Express’, will run from the Gare de l'Est in Paris to Budapest and Bucharest. |
B. adj.
1. Situated in or belonging to the east; eastern, oriental. Now poet.
| a 1450 Knt. de la Tour xciv. 122 She came from the parties orientys. 1589 R. Bruce Serm. (1843) 61 The Latine and Orient Kirks. 1629 Milton Nativity 231 When the Sun..Pillows his chin upon an Orient wave. 1817 Coleridge Zapolya iv. iii A richer dowry Than orient kings can give! 1827–44 Willis Ermengarde 38 The Danube..seeks an orient sea! |
2. Applied to pearls and precious stones of superior value and brilliancy, as coming anciently from the East; often a vague poetic epithet: Precious, excellent; brilliant, lustrous, sparkling.
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxi. 97, ccc. precious stanes, grete and orient [Fr. ccc perles dorient]. Ibid., A ruby, fyne and gude and orient. 1494 Fabyan Chron. v. cxvii. 93 He nowe shyneth as doth an orient stoone. 1555 Eden Decades 39 Many of these perles were as bygge as hasell nuttes, and oriente (as we caule it), that is, lyke vnto them of the Easte partes. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. v. viii. 3 These Pearles, though not altogether so orient as they in India. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 306 It is possible that the Cornish diamonds..may be pure and orient. 1713 Young Force Relig. ii. (1757) 62 When orient gems around her temples blazed. 1862 Tyndall Mountaineer. ii. 12 The grass..was sown with orient pearls [i.e. dewdrops]. |
b. Hence, of other things: Brilliant, lustrous, shining, glowing, radiant, resplendent (also fig.); sometimes (after A. 3), Shining like the dawn, bright red. arch.
| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. i. (1554) 1 b, The rivers were so orient and so fine Like quicksilver upboyling on the pleyne. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 183 b, Whyte set by blacke, appereth more oryent whyte than yf it stode by it selfe. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. ix. 158 The floures [of rose campion]..be of an excellent shining or orient redde. a 1600 Hooker Eccl. Pol. viii. ii. §8 To make the countenance of truth more orient. 1650 Fuller Pisgah iv. v. 99 A shrub, whose red berries, or grains, gave an orient tincture to cloth. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 546 Ten thousand Banners..With Orient Colours waving. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. (1818) 355 The several graces and virtues, which were so orient in the life of Christ. a 1881 Rossetti House of Life Introd. Sonnet, Its flowering crest impearled and orient. |
3. Rising, as the sun or daylight; also fig.
| 1598 Yong Diana 99 Behold a Nymph more faire then orient sunne. 1646 J. Cooke Vind. Law 32 That spirit of Reformation which I see orient in that court. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 74 Far eastward..from whence the Sun And orient Science at a birth begun. 1822 Shelley Hellas 266 The orient moon of Islam. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. v, A many-tinted, radiant Aurora,..this fairest of Orient Light⁓bringers. |