Definition of orthogonal
1a
: intersecting or lying at right angles
In orthogonal cutting, the cutting edge is perpendicular to the direction of tool travel.
b
: having perpendicular slopes or tangents at the point of intersection
orthogonal curves
2
: having a sum of products or an integral (see integral entry 1 sense 1b) that is zero or sometimes one under specified conditions: such as
a
of real-valued functions
: having the integral of the product of each pair of functions over a specific interval equal to zero
c
of a square matrix
: having the sum of products of corresponding elements in any two rows or any two columns equal to one if the rows or columns are the same and equal to zero otherwise : having a transpose with which the product equals the identity matrix
3
of a linear transformation
: having a matrix (see matrix sense 5a) that is orthogonal : preserving length and distance
4
: composed of mutually orthogonal elements
an orthogonal basis of a vector space
5
: statistically independent
mental ability may be classified into several orthogonal … factors— O. D. Duncan
6
: orthographic sense 1
orthogonal projection
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for orthogonal
The first known use of orthogonal was circa 1560
See more words from the same year