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orthogonal

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orthogonal

  • /ɔːˈθɒɡ.ə.nəl/ UK
  • /ɔɹˈθɑ.ɡə.nəl/ US, dialectal
  • /ɔɹˈθɒɡ.ə.nəl/ Canada, dialectal
  • /oːˈθɔɡ.ə.nəl/ Australia
  • /oːˈθɒɡ.ə.nəl/ New Zealand
  • [oːˈθɔ̟ɡ.ə.nəl] New Zealand

Where it comes from

From Middle French orthogonal, in turn from Medieval Latin orthogōnālis and Latin orthogōnius (“right-angled”), ultimately from Ancient Greek ὀρθογώνιος (orthogṓnios, “rectangular”). By surface analysis, ortho- + -gon + -al.

adjective orthagonal

  1. not comparable Of two objects, at right angles; perpendicular to each other. A chord and the radius that bisects it are orthogonal.
  2. not comparable Of a pair of vectors: having a zero inner product; perpendicular. The normal vector and tangent vector at a given point are orthogonal.
  3. not comparable Of a square matrix: such that its transpose is equal to its inverse.
  4. not comparable Of a linear transformation: preserving its angles.
  5. not comparable Of grid graphs, board games and polyominoes: vertical or horizontal but not diagonal.
  6. not comparable Of a pair of elements in an ortholattice: each less than or equal to the orthocomplement of the other.
  7. not comparable Statistically independent, with reference to variates.
  8. not comparable Of two or more aspects of a problem, able to be treated separately; of a design, exhibiting consistency and composability. The content of the message should be orthogonal to the means of its delivery.
  9. not comparable Of two or more problems or subjects, independent of or irrelevant to each other. Even in a geostate, some people are willing to fight and die for their views, but the institutional change to a polystate seems somewhat orthogonal to such issues.

Opposite: unorthogonal

noun orthogonals · orthagonal

  1. An orthogonal line. All of the orthogonals in this painting display an understanding of linear perspective.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: perpendicular, rectangular, vertical, crosswise, right-angle, normal, right-angled, uncorrelated, independent, orthonormal, distinct, nonoverlapping, noninteracting, separable, uncoupled, decoupled

adjective

Opposite: unorthogonal

Translations

Every language

adj mathematical term

Españolortogonal
中文正交的 zhèngjiāo de
Françaisorthogonal
Deutschsenkrecht, orthogonal
Русскийортогона́льный ortogonálʹnyj

adj of right angles

Españolortogonal
हिन्दीलांबिक lāmbik, लंब कोणीय lamb koṇīya
Portuguêsortogonal, perpendicular
Françaisorthogonal
Deutschrechtwinklig
Italianoortogonale
Ελληνικάορθογώνιος orthogónios
Русскийпрямоуго́льный prjamougólʹnyj, ортогона́льный ortogonálʹnyj

adj statistically independent

Françaisorthogonal
Русскийортогона́льный ortogonálʹnyj

adj software: able to be treated separately

Españolindependiente
Françaisindépendant

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MLA

"orthogonal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/orthogonal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

orthogonal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/orthogonal

Chicago

"orthogonal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/orthogonal.

BibTeX
@misc{orthogonal_2026,
  title = {orthogonal},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/orthogonal},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}