ὀρθός

Forms

ὀρθός (orthós) m (feminine ὀρθή, neuter ὀρθόν); first/second declension^[1] Laconian ὀρσός (orsós).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ortʰwós,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃r̥dʰwós (“high, upright”).^[3][1] Beekes connects it with Sanskrit ऊर्ध्व (ūrdhvá, “raised, high”), Latin arduus (“steep, lofty”), Old Irish ard (“high, great”) and Avestan ərəduua- (“high”), and treats the long vowel of the Sanskrit word as a problem internal to Sanskrit.^[3][1]

The traditional view starts from Proto-Indo-European *wordʰ-wo-, from the root of Sanskrit वर्धति (várdhati, “to raise, make grow”), and finds the initial w- in an Elean gloss of Hesychius, βορσόν (borsón) “stake”.^[3] Chantraine notes that the Mycenaean form Mycenaean Greek o-two-we-o, if it means “with an upright ear”, shows no initial w-, which would then have been lost by dissimilation; unlike Beekes, he keeps the Latin and Old Irish words apart.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is “upright, standing”, most often with ἵστημι (hístēmi): in the Iliad a man stands up straight, and the hair stands on end from fear.^[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

From the upright position the word came to mean “straight, in a line” (Hesiod), as opposed to crooked or slanting; a man who “sees straight” is not blind.^[5] Figuratively it meant “safe, prosperous”, of a person restored to health or a fortune that goes well (Pindar, Sophocles), and then “right, true, correct”, of a messenger, a mind or a judgement.^[5][2] Plato speaks of orthos logos, right reasoning, and Aristotle of the right constitutions, as opposed to their corrupt forms.^[5] In geometry it means “at right angles”: Euclid defines a line upright to a plane.^[5]

The New Testament uses it for standing upright and for straight paths.^[7] It survives as the learned Modern Greek ορθός (orthós) “right, correct, upright”.^[8][9] It is the source of the combining form English ortho-.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for standing upright.^[5][2]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for “straight”, in a line.^[5][11]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for a true messenger and a right mind.^[5][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato speaks of right reasoning.^[5][11]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle calls the good constitutions the right ones.^[5][11]
• 3rd century BC – Euclid uses it for a line at right angles to a plane.^[5][11]
• 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles tells a lame man to stand upright on his feet.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Upright, standing, erect; of hair, on end; of ears, pricked up.^[5][2]
2. (geometry) At right angles, perpendicular.^[5]
3. Straight, in a straight line, not crooked or slanting.^[5][7]
4. Safe, prosperous, successful; of a person, restored, on their feet again.^[5][2]
5. Right, true, correct.^[5][2]
6. True, real, genuine.^[5]
7. Upright, just.^[5]

Word family

• ὄρθιος (órthios)
• ὀρθογώνιος (orthogṓnios)
• ὀρθόω (orthóō)
• ὀρθότης (orthótēs)

Related words

• Latin arduus
• English ortho-

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
8. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge