orthodoxy

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin orthodoxia,^[2][3][4] partly also borrowed from French orthodoxie,^[3] from Ancient Greek ὀρθοδοξία (orthodoxía, “right opinion, sound doctrine”),^[5][6][2][7] the abstract noun of ὀρθόδοξος (orthódoxos, “having the right opinion”),^[6][3][7] which is formed from ὀρθο- (ortho-, “right, straight”) and δόξα (dóxa, “opinion, glory”).^[5] Etymonline traces the second element to Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“to take, accept”).^[3] The revised OED takes the English word straight from the Greek, and compares the post-classical Latin word (5th century), the French word (1580) and ortodossia (1598, in Florio).^[5] According to the OED, the Greek noun first appears in Origen, and the whole group of words was used almost only by Christian writers.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being orthodox, belief in what is held to be right, especially in religion: 1630, in William Prynne's Anti-Arminianisme.^[5] Merriam-Webster gives the same year,^[4] while Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the word to the 1620s.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a term of theology, for correct opinion and conformity to the creeds of the Church.^[3][5] From 1673, in Andrew Marvell, it also meant the body of doctrines held to be correct by a church or a group.^[5] By the early 19th century it could also be a single orthodox opinion, with the plural orthodoxies recorded by 1871.^[5][3][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as soundness in opinion and doctrine.^[9] With a capital, Orthodoxy has named Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the community of its believers since 1728, in Chambers's Cyclopædia,^[5] and Orthodox Judaism since 1888.^[5][2] The Feast of Orthodoxy is a festival of the Orthodox Church on the first Sunday in Lent.^[2] Merriam-Webster contrasts the word with heresy and heterodoxy.^[4]

Timeline

• 1630 – the quality of being orthodox; right belief, especially in religion.^[5][4]
• 1673 – the body of doctrines held to be orthodox by a church or group.^[5]
• 1728 – Eastern Orthodox Christianity.^[5]
• 1809 – an orthodox opinion or belief.^[5] Etymonline dates the plural orthodoxies to 1871.^[3]
• 1888 – Orthodox Judaism.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality or state of being orthodox; agreement with the beliefs or practices accepted as correct, especially in religion: Her essays questioned the orthodoxy of her teachers.^[4][10][5]
2. An orthodox belief or practice, or the body of such beliefs held by a group: The theory overturned an old scientific orthodoxy.^{[4][10][5][2]}
3. (usually capitalized) Eastern Orthodox Christianity, or the community of Orthodox Christians.^[4][5][2]
4. (usually capitalized) Orthodox Judaism, or the community of Orthodox Jews.^[5][2]

Word family

• hyperorthodoxy
• unorthodoxy

Related words

• orthodox
• orthogonal
• heterodoxy
• doxology
• ortho-

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins