ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Orthogonal

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ɔːˈθɒɡ.ə.nəl/ · Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Orthogonal is an adjective meaning (geometry) Of two objects, at right angles; perpendicular to each other.

Meaning

(geometry) Of two objects, at right angles; perpendicular to each other.

Of a pair of vectors: having a zero inner product; perpendicular.
Of a square matrix: such that its transpose is equal to its inverse.
Of a linear transformation: preserving its angles.
Of grid graphs, board games and polyominoes: vertical or horizontal but not diagonal.
Of a pair of elements in an ortholattice: each less than or equal to the orthocomplement of the other.
(statistics) Statistically independent, with reference to variates.
(software engineering) Of two or more aspects of a problem, able to be treated separately; of a design, exhibiting consistency and composability.

A chord and the radius that bisects it are orthogonal.

The normal vector and tangent vector at a given point are orthogonal.

The content of the message should be orthogonal to the means of its delivery.

All of the orthogonals in this painting display an understanding of linear perspective.

Depending on context, synonyms include perpendicular, rectangular.

Related dictionary entries include perpendicular, rectangular, vertical, crosswise, normal, right-angled.

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