orthodontist
Meaninga straightener of teeth
Common meaning: a dentist who straightens teeth
- orthstraight, upright, correctLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1072 · scan
- odonta toothLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1026 · scan
- ista person who does or follows
‘straight, upright, correct’ + ‘a tooth’ → orthodontist
Journey through time
Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.
- orth — Greek ὀρθός “straight, upright, correct” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- odont — Greek ὀδούς, ὀδόντος “a tooth” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek ὀρθός ‘straight, upright, correct’ + Greek ὀδούς ‘a tooth’.
Did you know (Greek orthos, straight,…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry ὀρθός, p. 1072 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Greek odous, odontos,…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry ὀδούς, p. 1026 · dictionary scan
Roots
- ὀδούς, ὀδόντος Greek “a tooth”
- ὀρθός Greek “straight, upright, correct”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app