orient

The Romans had no magnetic compasses, so they depended on the position of the rising sun to determine directions in the daytime. The direction from which the sun rose (which we know as east) was called oriens. This word was formed from the verb oriri, meaning "to rise, come forth." The word oriens also came to be used for the part of the world in the direction from which the sun rose, that is, the area we call the East. The English word Orient, taken from the Latin oriens, was used for the same general area to the east of Europe, and especially eastern Asia. When the verb orient was first used in English, it meant "to set or face toward the east." To orient a church means to build it so that the aisles lead up to the main altar at the eastern end of the building. Other senses of the verb developed later.