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
- Of a set of vectors, both orthogonal and...
Ancestry of “orthonormal”, step by step
orthonormal traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English orthogonal
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | orthogonal | Of two objects, at right angles; perpendicular to... |
| 2 | Middle French | orthogonal | — |
| 3 | Medieval Latin | orthogonalis | orthogonal |
| 4 | Latin | orthogonius | right-angled; rectangular; orthogonal |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ὀρθογώνιος | right-angled; rectangular |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ὀρθός | straight, upright, erect; straight forward, in a... |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | ortʰwós | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃r̥dʰwós | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃erdʰ- | to increase, grow; upright, high |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -wós | Creates adjectives from verb stems |
via English normal
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | normal | According to norms or rules or to a regular... |
| 2 | Latin | normālis | perpendicular, square, with right angles |
| 3 | Latin | nōrma | a carpenter’s square |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | γνώμων | interpreter, discerner; carpenter's square;... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | γιγνώσκω | I am aware of; I perceive, observe, know, learn;... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵn̥h₃sḱéti | to recognise |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵneh₃- | to know |