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Orientate vs Navigate - What's the difference?

orientate | navigate |

As verbs the difference between orientate and navigate

is that orientate is to face (a given direction) while navigate is to plan, control and record the position and course of a vehicle, ship, aircraft etc on a journey; to follow a planned course.

orientate

English

Verb

(orientat)
  • (UK) To face (a given direction).
  • (UK, reflexive) To determine one's position relative to the surroundings; to orient (oneself).
  • *
  • He…stood for a moment, orientating himself exactly in the light of his knowledge.
    He came out of the station and took some time to orientate himself.
  • To arrange in order; to dispose or place (a body) so as to show its relation to other bodies, or the relation of its parts among themselves.
  • * E. S. Dana
  • A crystal is orientated when placed in its proper position so as to exhibit its symmetry.
  • (UK) To position (something), to align relative to a given position.
  • Try to orientate your students towards the science subjects.
  • (archaic) To move or turn toward the east; to veer from the north or south toward the east.
  • Usage notes

    * Generally considered an error in American English. orientate], in [http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html Common Errors in English Usage], by [http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/ Paul Brians Compare developmentation.

    Synonyms

    * to orient

    References

    English ergative verbs ----

    navigate

    English

    Verb

  • To plan, control and record the position and course of a vehicle, ship, aircraft etc on a journey; to follow a planned course.
  • He navigated the bomber to the Ruhr.
  • To travel over water in a ship; to sail.
  • We navigated to France in the dinghy.
  • (computing) To move from page to page on the internet or within a program by clicking on hyperlinks.
  • It was difficult to navigate back to the home page.

    Derived terms

    * navigation * navigator * navigable