The Orient is a term which simply means the "east". It originated in Western Asia to describe that part of the world. It is now used in the Western world to describe Eastern Asia.

To describe a person as Oriental is considered to be impolite and politically incorrect by some in the United States; the term Asian is now widely used. In the United States Oriental refers to objects and material good such as rugs and teapots. However, the term Oriental does not carry any such connotations in the United Kingdom, where the word Asian commonly refers to people of Indian/Bangladeshi/Pakistani/Sri Lankan descent. (These people are called South Asians in the United States.)

Derivation

The term "Orient" is derived from the Latin word oriens meaning "east" (lit. "rising" < orior "rise"). The use of the word for "rising" to refer to the east (where the sun rises) has analogs from many languages: compare the terms "Levant" (< French levant "rising"), "Anatolia" (< Greek anatole), "mizrahi" in Hebrew ("zriha" meaning sunrise), "sharq" (< Arabic yashroq "rise", shrooq "rising") and "The Land of the Rising Sun" to refer to Japan.

The opposite term "Occident" is derived from the Latin word occidens meaning "west" (lit. "setting" < "occido" "fall/set"). This term was once used to describe the West (where the sun sets) but is falling into disuse.

Usage of term

In time, the common understanding of 'the Orient' has continually shifted eastwards; as Europe learned of countries farther East, the defined limit of 'the Orient' shifted eastwards, until it reached the Pacific Ocean, in what Westerners came to call 'the Far East'.

Initially, the "Orient" referred primarily to the cultures and countries of what are now considered the Middle East. For example the Three Kings of the Orient in Christianity were not from China, Japan etc. This particularly included regions that used to be known as Persia, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Egypt. As awareness of other Asian countries grew in European consciousness, the term often came to mean South Asia, Southeast Asia or East Asia. By the late 19th century, the term usually referred to China, Japan, Korea and surrounding nations while the British colonists frequently used it when speaking of India. Remnants of the older conception of the Orient still exist in the English language in such collocations as Oriental studies (now largely replaced by Asian studies), Oriental rug and Oriental harem. It has taken on a specific usage since the publication of Edward Said's influential book, "Orientalism" (1980).

"Oriental" has been used by the West as a term to describe cultures, countries, peoples and goods from the Orient. Oriental is also used as an adjective akin to "eastern", especially in the Spanish-speaking world. For example, the Philippine islands of Mindoro and Negros are each divided into two provinces whose titles include the words "oriental" and "occidental" respectively. The official name of Uruguay is the República Oriental del Uruguay or Oriental Republic of Uruguay because it is east of the Río de la Plata.