Definition of "orthogonal" in English

adjective

(geometry) Of two objects, at right angles; perpendicular to each other.
- A chord and the radius that bisects it are orthogonal.
Of a pair of vectors: having a zero inner product; perpendicular.
- The normal vector and tangent vector at a given point are orthogonal.
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.
(statistics) Statistically independent, with reference to variates.
(software engineering) Of two or more aspects of a problem, able to be treated separately; of a design, exhibiting consistency and composability.
- The content of the message should be orthogonal to the means of its delivery.
Of two or more problems or subjects, independent of or irrelevant to each other.

noun

An orthogonal line.
- All of the orthogonals in this painting display an understanding of linear perspective.