1
[ adjective ] denoting or characteristic of the biogeographic region including southern Asia and the Malay Archipelago as far as the Philippines, Borneo and Java

Synonyms

Asian

Examples

"for people of South and East Asian ancestry the term `Asian' is preferred to `Oriental'"

Used in print

(Chester G. Starr, The Origins of Greek Civili...)

We shall not be able entirely to pass_over these connections to the East as we consider Ripe_Geometric pottery , the epic and the myth , and the religious evolution of early Greece ; the important point , however , is that these magnificent achievements , unlike those of later decades , were only incidentally influenced by Oriental models .

The rows of animals and birds , in_particular , suggest awareness of Oriental animal friezes , transmitted perhaps via Syrian silver bowls and textiles , but the specific forms of these rows on local vases and metal products are nonetheless Greek .

(Tristram Coffin, Not to the Swift....)

He observed the Florentine vase in the hall , the Renoir painting in the library , as_well_as the long shelves of well-bound volumes ; the pattern of the Oriental rug , the delicate cut-glass chandelier .

(S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge. New York:...)

From the curio cabinet on its south wall and the bureaus beneath , you abstracted seventeen ivory , metal , wood , and stone sculptures of Oriental and African origin , two snuffboxes , and a jade handled magnifying_glass .

Related terms

eastern

2
[ noun ] a member of an Oriental race

Synonyms

oriental_person

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