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orthos

Orthos is a term rooted in Ancient Greek, where orthos means straight, upright, or correct. In English, the form most commonly encountered in technical vocabulary is ortho-, a combining form used to build many scientific and medical terms. Orthos itself is rarely used as a standalone term in contemporary English and is mainly discussed in etymological or linguistic contexts to explain the origin of the related prefix.

In science and medicine, words built from the same root illustrate the range of its meaning. Orthogonal

Historically, orthos underlies a broad family of terms that convey straightness or correctness. In modern English,

refers
to
perpendicular
relationships,
while
orthonormal
describes
a
set
of
vectors
that
are
both
perpendicular
to
each
other
and
of
unit
length.
Orthosis
denotes
a
device
applied
to
the
body
to
support,
align,
or
straighten
a
part
of
the
body,
such
as
a
brace.
Orthodontics
is
the
dental
specialty
focused
on
correcting
tooth
alignment,
and
orthopedics
(or
orthopaedics
in
British
English)
covers
the
treatment
of
the
musculoskeletal
system.
Orthography
refers
to
the
conventional
spelling
system
of
a
language.
In
biology,
the
order
Orthoptera,
meaning
“straight
wings,”
includes
crickets,
grasshoppers,
and
related
insects,
illustrating
the
same
Greek
root
in
taxonomy.
ortho-
is
the
prevailing
prefix
in
most
compound
words,
while
orthos
appears
mainly
in
etymological
discussions
or
older
literature.
The
term
does
not
designate
a
single
discipline
or
entity;
rather,
it
functions
as
a
historical
root
that
informs
a
wide
array
of
terms
across
mathematics,
science,
and
linguistics.