Do you hate ‘orientate’?

May 13th, 2008 at 08:09am Barry Wood

The word “orient” is rooted in the concept of where the sun rises.

As a verb, it retains the meaning “to arrange with reference to the east.” It also can be “to set in agreement with the points of a compass,” a skill useful in the sport of “orienteering.”

“Orient” also has acquired the more general meanings of “adjust or adapt to,” “acquaint with” and “correct.”

So why do we need to add a syllable to create “orientate,” a word that covers exactly the same ground? For the answer, we would have to travel back to the mid-19th century, when it first appeared, in England, where they still use it much more often than Americans do. And that trip would be most disorienting.

“Orientation” is obviously a useful noun, but “orientate” as a verb is one of the few words I really don’t care for.

Entry Filed under: word origins