'orientation-sensitive' is a compound formed from 'orientation' and 'sensitive'. 'orientation' originates from French 'orientation' (from Latin 'orientare'/'oriens' meaning 'rising, east'), and 'sensitive' originates from Latin 'sensitivus' (from 'sentire' meaning 'to feel').

'orientation' entered English via Middle French/Latin influences and became English 'orientation'; 'sensitive' passed from Latin into Old French (sensitif/sensitif) and then into Middle English as 'sensitive', and the compound 'orientation-sensitive' is a modern English formation combining these two elements.

Initially, the components referred separately to 'the act of orienting' and 'capable of feeling or perceiving'; over time their combined compound came to mean 'affected by orientation' (i.e., 'sensitive to orientation').