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# What does Ortho mean exactly?

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I''m pretty sure Ortho is short for Orthogonal and so you''d have like an Orthographic Rendering Engine if you made an engine with an Ortho view. But what exactly does it mean?

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You should be able to find a suitable definition on this page.

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I think the word has it''s roots in greek. There are other greek words containing "ortho". Like Orthographia (not sure about the spelling) which i think is what you study in school when learning how to spell correctly.

I know, crappy reply but what the heck

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Othogonal is just a way of viewing a 3D scene. It''s basically looking into the scene without any perspective. Simply the orthogonal view point just drops the Z part of a 3D posistion and then uses the X and Y parts to put the point on the screen.

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The mighty Oxford English Dictionary bestrides the English language like a colossal dictionary with legs. It has this to say on the subject:

[a. F. orthogonal, f. orthogone: see prec. and -al1; and cf. hexagonal, etc.]
1. Having or of the nature of a right angle, right-angled (obs.); pertaining to or involving right angles; at right angles to something else, or to each other; rectangular.
orthogonal projection, projection in which the rays are at right angles to the plane of projection. orthogonal trajectory, a curve intersecting each of a family of curves at right angles.

2. Math. a. Of a linear transformation: preserving lengths and angles; leaving unchanged quantities of the form x1^2 + x2^2 +…+ xn^2 and the inner product of any two vectors.

b. Applied to the group of all orthogonal matrices of a given order.

c. Of a square matrix: representing an orthogonal transformation; such that the rows (and likewise the columns) are orthonormal when considered as vectors; equal to the inverse of its transpose; (these three properties are equivalent).

d. Of two vectors or functions: perpendicular; having an inner product equal to zero. Of a set of vectors or functions: such that the inner product of any two is zero if and only if the two are distinct.

3. Statistics. Of a set of variates: statistically independent. Of an experimental design: such that the variates under investigation can be treated as statistically independent.

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brendon@phi:~\$ dict ortho1 definition foundFrom The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:  Ortho- \Or"tho-\ ([^o]r"th[-o]-) pref. [Gr. ''orqos straight;     akin to Skr. [=u]rdhva upright, v[.r]dh to grow, to cause to     grow.]     [1913 Webster]     1. A combining form signifying straight, right, upright,        correct, regular; as, orthodromy, orthodiagonal, orthodox,        orthographic.        [1913 Webster]     2. (Chem.) A combining form (also used adjectively),        designating:        (a) (Inorganic Chem.) The one of several acids of the same            element (as the phosphoric acids), which actually            occurs with the greatest number of hydroxyl groups;            as, orthophosphoric acid. Cf. {Normal}.        (b) (Organic Chem.) Connection with, or affinity to, one            variety of isomerism, characteristic of the benzene            compounds; -- contrasted with {meta-} or {para-}; as,            the ortho position; hence, designating any substance            showing such isomerism; as, an ortho compound.            [1913 Webster]     Note: In the graphic representation of the benzene nucleus           (see {Benzene nucleus}, under {Benzene}), provisionally           adopted, any substance exhibiting double substitution           in adjacent and contiguous carbon atoms, as 1 & 2, 3 &           4, 4 & 5, etc., is designated by ortho-; as,           orthoxylene; any substance exhibiting substitution of           two carbon atoms with one intervening, as 1 & 3, 2 & 4,           3 & 5, 4 & 6, etc., by meta-; as, resorcin or           metaxylene; any substance exhibiting substitution in           opposite parts, as 1 & 4, 2 & 5, 3 & 6, by para-; as,           hydroquinone or paraxylene.           [1913 Webster] `

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