orthogonal

Plural: orthogonals

Adjective Satellite

not pertinent to the matter under consideration
statistically unrelated
having a set of mutually perpendicular axes; meeting at right angles
- "wind and sea may displace the ship's center of gravity along three orthogonal axes"

Adj

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.
Statistically independent, with reference to variates.
Of two or more aspects of a problem, able to be treated separately; of a design, exhibiting consistency and composability.
Of two or more problems or subjects, independent of or irrelevant to each other.

Noun

An orthogonal line.

Examples

A chord and the radius that bisects it are orthogonal.
All of the orthogonals in this painting display an understanding of linear perspective.
The content of the message should be orthogonal to the means of its delivery.
The normal vector and tangent vector at a given point are orthogonal.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle French orthogonal, in turn from Medieval Latin orthogōnālis and Latin orthogōnius (“right-angled”), ultimately from Ancient Greek ὀρθογώνιος (orthogṓnios, “rectangular”). By surface analysis, ortho- + -gon + -al.

Synonyms

extraneous, immaterial, impertinent, rectangular

Scrabble Score: 14

orthogonal: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
orthogonal: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
orthogonal: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

orthogonal: valid Words With Friends Word