entry
orthodox
/ˈɔːrθədɑks/Holding to established, accepted doctrine
From Greek ortho (straight) + Greek dox (opinion).
from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion,"
from Late Latin orthodoxus
from Middle French orthodoxe and its etymon Late Latin orthodoxus
from PIE root *dek- "to take, accept"). Of other subjects than religion or theology
from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion,"
from Middle French orthodoxe and its etymon Late Latin orthodoxus
from Late Latin orthodoxus
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion,"
from Late Latin orthodoxus
from Middle French orthodoxe and its etymon Late Latin orthodoxus
from PIE root *dek- "to take, accept"). Of other subjects than religion or theology
from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion,"
from Middle French orthodoxe and its etymon Late Latin orthodoxus
from Late Latin orthodoxus
+1 more sourceA Greek speaker could praise your thinking without ever agreeing with you, because doxa was just 'opinion'—the sort of thing people hold after listening, guessing, or being convinced. Then orthos marched in, meaning straight or right, and the two fused into orthodoksos, a wonderfully smug little package of 'right opinion.' Christians in Late Latin picked it up as orthodoxus, and by the mid-1400s English was using it for the approved theological line, the opposite of heresy. That same doxa shows up in paradox, where an opinion seems to stand beside itself in a funhouse mirror, while orthos also lives on in orthodontics and orthography, forever trying to straighten things out. After the Great Schism, and later in disputes among Quakers and Jews, the word became a badge of the side that claimed to have the straight line. In other words: orthodoxy is what happens when a road of thought decides it would rather be a ruler.
The Story
A Greek speaker could praise your thinking without ever agreeing with you, because doxa was just 'opinion'—the sort of thing people hold after listening, guessing, or being convinced. Then orthos marched in, meaning straight or right, and the two fused into orthodoksos, a wonderfully smug little package of 'right opinion.' Christians in Late Latin picked it up as orthodoxus, and by the mid-1400s English was using it for the approved theological line, the opposite of heresy. That same doxa shows up in paradox, where an opinion seems to stand beside itself in a funhouse mirror, while orthos also lives on in orthodontics and orthography, forever trying to straighten things out. After the Great Schism, and later in disputes among Quakers and Jews, the word became a badge of the side that claimed to have the straight line. In other words: orthodoxy is what happens when a road of thought decides it would rather be a ruler.
Kin & Kindred
From 'ortho'·straight, right, correct
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'dox'·opinion, belief, reputation
Derived Terms
English words from this root