Crosswords1 min ago
Orientated or oriented?
5 Answers
Which is the correct English useage and is the other one an 'americanism' or are they both correct?
Answers
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According to the Oxford English Dictionary "orientate=orient" !
So they are the same. 'Orient' is older, being from the C18. 'Orientate' is from the C19. The Dictionary says that 'orientate' may be a back-formation from 'orientation'. The past participle of 'orient' is 'oriented' and of 'orientate' it is 'orientated'.
That said, surely in everyday speech in Britain we use 'orientate' to mean , literally or figuratively, 'to turn in or towards a certain direction'. We don't use 'orient' to mean that here.Both words originally meant 'to turn to face the East' but later meant to turn something to a certain point on the compass, before acquiring the meaning of 'to turn oneself in the requisite direction'
So they are the same. 'Orient' is older, being from the C18. 'Orientate' is from the C19. The Dictionary says that 'orientate' may be a back-formation from 'orientation'. The past participle of 'orient' is 'oriented' and of 'orientate' it is 'orientated'.
That said, surely in everyday speech in Britain we use 'orientate' to mean , literally or figuratively, 'to turn in or towards a certain direction'. We don't use 'orient' to mean that here.Both words originally meant 'to turn to face the East' but later meant to turn something to a certain point on the compass, before acquiring the meaning of 'to turn oneself in the requisite direction'
I think orient was the original word; orientation became the noun from it, then people created the word orientate from orientation.
It may have Americans who did this. You crown a king; the noun from that is coronation - and many Americans think the verb is 'to coronate'. I've never heard that word in Britain.
It may have Americans who did this. You crown a king; the noun from that is coronation - and many Americans think the verb is 'to coronate'. I've never heard that word in Britain.
Yes, jno, 'coronate' is odd and appears to be unique to the US. However, it must have been used in England at one time. The OED gives 'coronate' as (first recorded in) Late Middle English! Coronate has come straight from Latin coronare and is formed from the past participle (coronatus).'Crown' has come to us by a less direct route, also from Latin ('corona' a wreath, a chaplet,) but via Old French and Anglo-Norman words. Crown got here first (it's 's Middle English).
Bet the Americans didn't know any of that and simply re-created the word as a back-formation from 'coronation' when the need arose for their press to describe a coronation LOL
Bet the Americans didn't know any of that and simply re-created the word as a back-formation from 'coronation' when the need arose for their press to describe a coronation LOL
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