Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “orthonormal” come from?

Orthonormal comes from English normal and Ancient Greek ὀρθός meaning straight, combined with Latin -alis and Ancient Greek γνώμων, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵneh₃- meaning to know.

orthonormal (English): Of a set of vectors, both orthogonal and...

Definitions

  1. Of a set of vectors, both orthogonal and...

Ancestry of “orthonormal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishorthogonalOf two objects, at right angles; perpendicular to...
2Middle Frenchorthogonal—
3Medieval Latinorthogonalisorthogonal
4Latinorthogoniusright-angled; rectangular; orthogonal
5Ancient Greekὀρθογώνιοςright-angled; rectangular
6Ancient Greekὀρθόςstraight, upright, erect; straight forward, in a...
7Proto-Hellenicortʰwós—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃r̥dʰwós—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃erdʰ-to increase, grow; upright, high
10Proto-Indo-European-wósCreates adjectives from verb stems

Words derived from “orthonormal”

  • orthonormalize
  • biorthonormal
  • biorthonormality
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -wós →