Oriental definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (22)

American Heritage Dictionary (7)

adjective Of or relating to the countries of the Orient or their peoples or cultures; eastern.
adjective Of or designating the biogeographic region that includes Asia south of the Himalaya Mountains and the islands of the Malay Archipelago.
adjective Lustrous and valuable: oriental pearls.

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Century Dictionary (11)

Of the orient or east; situated in or proceeding from the east; eastern: as, oriental seas or countries. Also orient. Strait to the East The Spirit flies, and in Aurora's cheeks The best of Oriental sweetness seeks. J. Beaumont, Psyche, i. 51. We may note the Positure and Position of the Corps, which among the Christians hath always been to turn the Feet to the East, with the Head to the West; that so they may be ready to meet the Lord, whom the Ancients did believe should appear in the oriental part of Heaven. Durand, quoted in Bourne's Pop. Antiq. (1777), p. 47. Some ascribing hereto the generation of gold; … conceiving the bodies … to receive … some appropriate influence from his [the sun's] ascendent and oriental radiations. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., vi. 7.
Of superior quality; precious; valuable; possessing orient qualities: applied to gems as a mark of excellence: opposed to occidental, which applies to the less valuable kinds. The word oriental is also frequently applied as an epithet to the names of certain stones to which the stone so described has no relation except that of color or some other resemblance: thus, oriental emerald is not emerald, but sapphire of a greenish-yellow color; oriental topaz is not topaz, but sapphire of a yellow color, or yellow mixed with red; and so on. Oriental is also applied to several superior or prized varieties of the domestic pigeon. For of o perle, fyne, oriental, Hire white coroune was imaked al. Chaucer, Prol. to Good Women, l. 221. Some dozen of very faire Emeraulds orientall. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 279. If this oceanic jade be recognized as a distinct variety, the ordinary nephrite may be distinguished as “oriental jade.” Encyc. Brit, XIII. 540.
[cap. or lowercase] Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the East, or Eastern, especially Asiatic, countries; hence, exuberant; profuse; sumptuous; gorgeous; magnificent. His services were rewarded with Oriental munificence: and we believe that he received much more than Hastings could conveniently spare. Macaulay, Warren Hastings. I know not, for he spoke not, only shower'd His oriental gifts on every one, And most on Edith. Tennyson, Aylmer's Field.

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The noises the oriental was making attracted their attention. — 017 - The Thousand Headed Man
"The Red Flower of Tachai Blooms Everywhere" Hackett charms the hearer with an oriental-inspired piece on which his koto and the Mellotron play a large role. — Latest reviews @ Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website
The first movement featured a distinctly "oriental" sound at the end, which Debussy had lifted from Javanese gamelan music. — Stories from The Sun
Considering the 500 year Turkish occupation, she thinks it's a disgrace to label oriental sounding music as a national product. — SofiaEcho RSS feed
A very rare and extremely beautiful green variety is called the oriental emerald. — The Chemistry, Properties and Tests of Precious Stones

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oriental

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