• orthogonal • Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. At right
angles, perpendicular (to). 2. Totally irrelevant, not at all
germane to some point under discussion. 3. Statistically
unrelated or independent. Notes: Today's word comes from Greek
via Latin and hence has all the derivational accoutrements of
classical words. The noun is orthogonality and you can make a
verb, orthogonalize "to place at right angles" out of it. The
adverb has the usual suffix: orthogonally. In Play: Today's word
is useful in discussions of both practical and philosophical
matters. Practically, we may say, "The trunk of a capital 'T' is
orthogonal to its cross bar." To stretch that sense a wee bit,
we might comment, "I wouldn't say that she drank too much last
night but Wanda Round left the party somewhat less than
orthogonal." On a more philosophical note: "Jack Uzzi raises so
many orthogonal issues in staff meetings, it seems he is totally
solipsistic." Word History: Today's Good Word comes from Greek
orthogonios "at right angles"