Standard Lemma guide

orthogonality

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɔːˌθɒɡ.əˈnæl.ɪ.ti/
  • General-American, dialectal: /ɔɹˌθɑ.ɡəˈnæl.ə.ti/ of Canada
  • General-American, dialectal: [ɔɹˌθɑ.ɡəˈnæl.ə.ɾi] of Canada
  • Canada, dialectal: /ɔɹˌθɒɡ.əˈnæl.ə.ti/ of the US
  • Canada, dialectal: [ɔɹˌθɒɡ.əˈnæl.ə.ɾi] of the US
  • Australian: /oːˌθɔɡ.əˈnæl.ə.ti/
  • Australian: [oːˌθɔɡ.əˈnæl.ə.ɾi]
  • New-Zealand: /oːˌθɒɡ.əˈnæl.ə.ti/
  • New-Zealand: [oːˌθɔ̟ɡ.əˈnæl.ə.ɾi]

1

noun

Meaning 1

The property of being orthogonal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences, software, statistics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the quality of lying or intersecting at right angles

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: rectangularity, oblongness

3

noun

Meaning 3

the relation of opposition between things at right angles

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: perpendicularity, orthogonal opposition

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: opposition

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English orthogonal Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English orthogonality From orthogonal + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: ортогона́лност (ortogonálnost) — the property of being orthogonal
  • Czech: ortogonalita — the property of being orthogonal
  • Esperanto: orteco — the property of being orthogonal
  • Finnish: kohtisuoruus — the property of being orthogonal
  • French: orthogonalité — the property of being orthogonal
  • German: Orthogonalität — the property of being orthogonal
  • Greek: ορθογωνιότητα (orthogoniótita) — the property of being orthogonal
  • Hungarian: ortogonalitás — the property of being orthogonal
  • Interlingua: orthogonalitate — the property of being orthogonal
  • Irish: ortagánacht — the property of being orthogonal
  • Italian: ortogonalità — the property of being orthogonal
  • Norwegian: ortogonalitet — the property of being orthogonal
  • Polish: prostopadłość — the property of being orthogonal
  • Polish: ortogonalność — the property of being orthogonal
  • Romanian: ortogonalitate — the property of being orthogonal
  • Russian: ортогона́льность (ortogonálʹnostʹ) — the property of being orthogonal
  • Slovene: ortogonalnost — the property of being orthogonal
  • Spanish: ortogonalidad — the property of being orthogonal
  • Swedish: ortogonalitet — the property of being orthogonal
  • Tagalog: ortogonalidad — the property of being orthogonal