etymology - "Oriented" vs. "orientated"


What are the origins of the word orientated?


As far as I know, the correct spelling is oriented and orientated is not an alternative spelling but an error that is in common use.


Is it for example more commonly used in a certain country or by a certain people? Is there a reason for people choosing to say or write orientated instead of oriented?



Answer



People say orientated because they hear the word orientation and think that's the verb made from it. It's called a "back-formation". (See Why are "colleagues" becoming "work colleagues"?). Orientated is accepted as an alternate by most dictionaries I've seen.


To orient something comes from the medieval practice of building cathedrals so that the apse, the part of the building that contained the altar, would be on the eastern side (hence orient).


(I suppose if they screwed up and got it the other way around the architects just shrugged and said, "Well, occidents will happen.")


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