προσανατολίζομαι

[bertfon]

προσανατολίζω/προσανατολίζομαι : does any one know the origin of this verb?

Given the "ανατολ" part of it and the meaning of this word (orientate) I assume that in its creation the word was in some way related with "ανατολή". Why the East was chosen as the main root for the word?

 

[διαφορετικός]

Βικιλεξικό claims that "προσανατολίζω" derives from French "orienter".
And English "orientation" derives from French "orient".
So probably it's the same reason in most languages.

I don't know why they chose the east and not the south. I guess it was because of church orientation. Maybe somebody else knows better.

 

[ioanell]

I don't know why they chose the east and not the south. I guess it was because of church orientation.

All relevant "western" (romance and germanic) words, either nouns or adjectives and verbs, seem to derive from the present participle "oriens, gen. orientis" of the latin verb "orior=rise, emerge, begin, get up, originate" and, ultimately, from the phrase "oriens sol=[the] rising sun". Undoubtedly, the rising sun for the Romans as well as for the rest of the world was a sign very strong and impressive for the beginning of their day, with no analogous sign coming from the south or any other direction. Moreover, it was the sun with its rays that warmed up the people's houses/homes.
The Greek verb προσανατολίζω is a translational loan of the French "s'orienter".

 

[διαφορετικός]

Undoubtedly, the rising sun for the Romans as well as for the rest of the world was a sign very strong and impressive for the beginning of their day, with no analogous sign coming from the south or any other direction.

I agree, but the direction to the sunrise (approximately east) is more variable than the direction to the highest point (zenith) of the sun's orbit (approximately south).

P.S.: And therefore, the zenith is more useful than the sunrise as a stable reference of direction on the surface of earth (= "orientation") - at least in Europe.

 

[bertfon]

Thanks guys! Great answers.

 

[ioanell]

the direction to the sunrise (approximately east) is more variable than the direction to the highest point (zenith) of the sun's orbit (approximately south).

P.S.: And therefore, the zenith is more useful than the sunrise as a stable reference of direction on the surface of earth (= "orientation")

Kindly asking for the moderator's tolerance, that's a very interesting view, διαφορετικέ! As my astronomical knowledge about Zenith is limited to what I read (zenith, point on the celestial sphere directly/vertically above an observer on the Earth. The point 180° opposite the zenith, directly underfoot, is the nadir.) I don't realize whether the quoted view that zenith is more useful than the sunrise as a stable reference of direction on the surface of earth (= "orientation") is your personal view or a generally accepted scientific conclusion. If not the east (and consequently N.W. and S.), could zenith be a safe sign of direction and if so, direction to where?

 

[διαφορετικός]

zenith, point on the celestial sphere directly/vertically above an observer on the Earth

This seems to be the most typical meaning of "zenith", but I meant the following meaning:

The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.

Maybe I should have called it the "upper culmination point (of the sun)".

could zenith be a safe sign of direction and if so, direction to where?

The culmination point of the sun is close to the south (if it is observed from the northern hemisphere).

is more useful than the sunrise as a stable reference of direction [...] is your personal view or a generally accepted scientific conclusion

Some arguments:

• The culmination is more difficult to detect than the sunrise (=> culmination is less useful)
• The sunrise is very variable, it's not always precisely in the east: in winter, it's in south-east; in summer, it's in north-east (=> sunrise is less useful); the direction of the culmination point (projected orthogonally onto the earth's surface) seems less variable to me

 

[διαφορετικός]

As an illustration to my last post: The following image shows the location of the sun throughout the present day (2023-06-10), seen from Athens. Such diagrams can be created via Sun's location/Sonnenstand (International version).