Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - orientation

 noun  Date: 1839  1.  a. the act or process of orienting or of being oriented  b. the state of being oriented; broadly arrangement, alignment  2.  a. a usually general or lasting direction of thought, inclination, or interest  b. a person's self-identification as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual sexual ~  3. change of position by organs, organelles, or organisms in response to external stimulus  • ~al adjective  • ~ally adverb