orthodox

Conforming to established beliefs or practices.

Played on 17 October 2026 · Day 42 · word 4 of 5

The idea of a right opinion

How orthodox reached English

oldest first

combined

Greek
orthodoxos
‘having the right opinion’
into Late Latin
Late Latin
orthodoxus
into Middle English
Middle English
orthodoxe
‘of theological opinions or faith: what is regarded as true or correct’
became English
English
orthodox

The Greek pieces orthos and doxa lie behind orthodoxein, to hold the right opinion, and the adjective orthodoxos.

English borrowed from French or Late Latin. The literal gloss describes the word’s construction, not whether any particular belief is true.

Merriam-Webster: orthodox
Word History gives the alternative borrowing routes; Kids Etymology and Word Origin give the components and intervening Greek verb.
Online Etymology Dictionary: orthography
Also built on Greek *orthos* "correct": orthography ("correct writing")
Online Etymology Dictionary · orthodox
Meanings of the older forms on the word path.

A description of belief also became a description of conventional practice.

Every day, everyone gets the same five words.