or·thog·o·nal | \ ȯr-ˈthä-gə-nᵊl 
\
\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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Other Words from orthogonal
orthogonality \ ȯr-ˌthä-gə-ˈna-lə-tē \ noun
\ nounorthogonally \ ȯr-ˈthä-gə-nᵊl-ē \ adverb
\ adverbExamples of orthogonal in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web This placed an undue burden on trustees and money managers to chase social goals which are orthogonal to the single focus of providing financial value to retirees.
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Jerry Bowyer, National Review, "Reining in the Proxies," 15 Oct. 2020 This is a complex procedural question that's orthogonal to questions about the copyright status of APIs.
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Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, "Google’s Supreme Court faceoff with Oracle was a disaster for Google," 8 Oct. 2020 It is moved in a straight line (orthogonal or diagonal) to the first vacant intersection beyond the men, and the men so jumped are immediately removed.
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Quanta Magazine, "A Life in Games," 28 Aug. 2015 The methods developed so far really think about genetics and environment as separate and orthogonal, as independent factors.
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Quanta Magazine, "New Turmoil Over Predicting the Effects of Genes," 23 Apr. 2019 Modern stories frequently plunge us into lengthy interior monologues, exhaustively describe settings and people’s physical features, delight in the random, absurd, and orthogonal, and end with deliberate ambiguity.
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Ferris Jabr, Harper's magazine, "The Story of Storytelling," 10 Mar. 2019 The first-generation Jetta (1980), designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign, was an orthogonal paragon of cheap-car virtue.
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Dan Neil, WSJ, "2019 Volkswagen Jetta: Return of the Great Cheap Car," 10 Aug. 2018 In addition to photos, the system will pull its imagery from sources such as commercial satellite and orthogonal imagery.
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Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica, "US spy lab hopes to geotag every outdoor photo on social media," 16 Mar. 2018 All of this is, of course, trackable on the handheld's lower screen, the persistence of its orthogonal map eliminating screen-tabbing interruptions and clumsy semi-transparent overlays.
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Matt Peckham, Time, "Metroid: Samus Returns Is Exactly the Metroid the 3DS Needs," 27 June 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'orthogonal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for orthogonal
orthogonal
adjectiveor·thog·o·nal | \ ȯr-ˈthäg-ən-ᵊl \
\Medical Definition of orthogonal
1a : lying or intersecting at right angles
b : being, using, or made with three ECG leads whose axes are perpendicular to each other and to the frontal, horizontal, and sagittal axes of the body
the three orthogonal leads were recorded simultaneously on magnetic tape— Massoud Nemati et al
2 : statistically independent
mental ability may be classified into several orthogonal…factors— O. D. Duncan
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Time Traveler for orthogonal
The first known use of orthogonal was circa 1560
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