orthography
Meaningright writing
Common meaning: correct spelling
- orthstraight, upright, correctLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1072 · scan
- graphto scratch marks, hence to write or drawLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 317 · scan
- ynoun ending: study, state or act
‘straight, upright, correct’ + ‘to scratch marks, hence to write or draw’ → orthography
Journey through time
- orth — Greek ὀρθός “straight, upright, correct” (path traced)
- graph — Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō) “to scratch marks, hence to write or draw” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as ortho.
- Greekὀρθός + γράφω (gráphō)‘straight, upright, correct + to scratch marks, hence to write or draw’
- Latinortho
- Englishorthography‘correct spelling’ · today
orth also in: orthodoxorthopaedicorthodontist
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’ + Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō) ‘to scratch marks, hence to write or draw’.
Did you know (Bibliography, monograph, orthography,…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry γράφω (gráphō), p. 317 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Greek orthos, straight,…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry ὀρθός, p. 1072 · dictionary scan
Roots
- γράφω (gráphō) Ancient Greek “to scratch marks, hence to write or draw”
- ὀρθός Greek “straight, upright, correct”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app