'past-oriented' originates from Modern English compounding of 'past' and 'oriented', where 'past' comes from Old English 'pǣst' meaning 'that which has gone by' and 'orient' (from Latin via French) meant 'to face or align toward' ('orientare').

'orient' comes from Latin 'oriens' (literally 'rising' or 'east'), passed into Old French and Middle English as 'orient-' forms; 'oriented' developed as the past-participial/adjectival form meaning 'directed toward'. The compound 'past-oriented' is a modern English formation combining the noun/adjective 'past' with 'oriented' to express direction toward the past.

Initially, 'orient' in Latin referred to 'rising' (the east) and later acquired the sense 'to face' or 'to align'; combined into Modern English as 'oriented' meaning 'directed toward', so 'past-oriented' now means 'directed toward the past'.