orthography

Syllables: or·tho·gra·phyUK/ɔːˈθɒɡɹəfi//ɔɹˈθɑɡɹəfi/

orthography noun: a method of representing a language or the sounds of language by written symbols; spelling.

Noun

orthography (countable and uncountable, plural orthographies)

(countable) A method of representing a language or the sounds of language by written symbols; spelling.
- The Licencer indeed, as his autority novv ſtands, may licence much; but if theſe Greek Orthographies vvere of his licencing; the boyes at School might reck'n vvith him at his Grammar.1645 March 14 (Gregorian calendar), J[ohn] M[ilton], Colasterion: A Reply to a Nameles Answer against The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. […], [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 3
- Then the Bay tried me vvith a ſecond VVord, much harder to be pronounced; but reducing it to the Engliſh Orthography, may be ſpelt thus, Houyhnhnms.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Sets out as Captain of a Ship. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin]...
(countable, more broadly) A set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, capitalization, emphasis, hyphenation, punctuation, and word breaks.
(uncountable) The aspect of language study concerned with letters and their sequences in words; the study of spelling.
- Not only the ſeveral Towns and Countries^([sic – meaning Counties]) of England, have a different way of pronouncing, but even here in London they clip their Words after one Manner about the Court, another in the City, and a third in the Suburbs; and in a few Years, it is probable, will all differ...1712 March 4 (date written; Gregorian calendar), J[onathan] Swift, A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue; […], 2nd edition, London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke, […]...
(uncountable) Correct spelling according to established usage; also (obsolete) pronunciation according to the spelling of a word.
- I abhor ſuch phanaticall phantaſims, ſuch inſociable and poynt deuiſe companions, ſuch rackers of ortagriphie, as to ſpeake dout ſine, when he ſhould ſay doubt; […]c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- [A]nother [critic] has vovvde to get the conſumption of the lungues, or to leue to poſteritie the true orthography and pronunciation of laughing: […]1604 (date written), Iohn Marston [i.e., John Marston], Parasitaster, or The Fawne, […], London: […] T[homas] P[urfoot] for W[illiam] C[otton], published 1606, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i
Antonyms:

cacography
(countable) A form of projection used to represent three-dimensional objects in two dimensions, in which all the projection lines are orthogonal or perpendicular to the projection plane; an orthographic projection, especially when used to draw an elevation, vertical projection, etc., of a building; also (obsolete) a drawing made in this way.
- Ichnography, by vvhich vve are to underſtand the very firſt Deſign and Ordinance of a VVork or Edifice, […] To this ſucceeds Orthography, or the erect elevation of the ſame in face or front deſcrib'd in meaſure upon the former Idea […]1664, John Evelyn, “An Account of Architects & Architecture, together with an Historical, and Etymological Explanation of Certain Tearms Particularly Affected by Architects”, in Roland Freart [i.e....
Antonyms:

oblique projection
(countable, obsolete) Synonym of orthographer (“someone knowledgeable in spelling rules”).
- [H]e vvas vvoont to ſpeake plaine, and novv is he turnd ortography, his vvords are a very fantaſticall banquet, iuſt ſo many ſtrange diſhes: […]1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II...
Synonyms:

orthographer

Verb

orthography (third-person singular simple present orthographies, present participle orthographying, simple past and past participle orthographied)

(archaic, rare, transitive) To spell (words) or write (text) according to established usage.
- [T]here have appeared three collections of ſongs and poems, all of vvhich, though there be merit in the compoſition, are, hovvever, vvretchedly orthographied.1778, William Shaw, “Introduction”, in An Analysis of the Galic Language, 2nd edition, Edinburgh: […] W[alter] and T[homas] Ruddiman; for R. Jamieson, […], →OCLC, page x
- As it would be unpleasant to the reader to see in print Mr. Dubois's English orthographied as he pronounced his words, we have followed the common way of spelling.1809, Barnaby Sketchwell [probably a pseudonym], “Criticism Below-stairs”, in London Characters; or Fashions and Customs, of the Present Century. […], volume I, London: […] B. Crosby and Co. […]...

orthography meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

orthography in Hindi

aspect of language study concerned with letters and their sequences in words: वर्तनी vartanī
correct spelling according to established usage: इमला imlā, वर्तनी vartanī, हिज्जे hijje

orthography in Urdu

correct spelling according to established usage: اِمْلا imlā, عِلْمُ الْتَہَجّی 'ilm ul-tahajjī, ہِجّے hijje

orthography in Bengali

correct spelling according to established usage: লিখনবিধি likhonbidhi

More languagesFewer languages

orthography in Kannada: ಬರಿಗೆಯರಿಮೆ
orthography in Pashto: املا emlā, ليکدود likdod, رسم الخط rasm ol-xat
orthography in Tagalog: palabaybayan, palatitikan, ortograpiya
orthography in Arabic: إِمْلَاء ʔimlāʔ, عِلْم الْإِمْلَاء ʕilm al-ʔimlāʔ, هِجَاء hijāʔ, تَهْجِئَة tahjiʔa
orthography in Malay: ejaan, ortografi, eja
orthography in Indonesian: ortografi
orthography in Thai: อักขรวิธี àk-kà-rà-wí-tii
orthography in Vietnamese: chính tả, phép chính tả
orthography in Myanmar: ရေးထုံး re:htum:, စာလုံးပေါင်း calum:paung:, အသတ် a.sat, စာလုံးပေါင်းသတ်ပုံ calum:paung:satpum

Examples of orthography in a sentence

Spanish orthography has high phonemicity: it corresponds precisely and consistently with the sounds of the phonemes.
Spanish orthography is highly phonemic: you can tell exactly how the words sound just by looking at how they are spelled.
English orthography often (but not invariably) drops the diacritics from words that it has naturalized from other languages.

All 12 example sentences with orthography

Synonyms of orthography

orthographer

Antonyms

Forms of orthography

Noun
plural	orthographies
Verb
third-person singular present	orthographies
present participle	orthographying
past participle	orthographied
past	orthographied

Plural of orthography: orthographies

Origin of orthography

The noun is derived from Late Middle English ortografie, ortographie (“spelling”) [and other forms], and then either: * from Anglo-Norman ortografie, Middle French orthographie, ortografie, ortographie (“correct spelling; orthographic projection”) (compare Old French ortografie; modern French orthographe (“spelling, orthography”), orthographie (“orthographic project, orthography”)); or * from their etymon Latin orthographia (“correct spelling; building elevation”), from Koine Greek ὀρθογραφία (orthographía, “correct spelling”), from Ancient Greek ορθο- (ortho-, prefix meaning ‘right, proper; upright’) (from ὀρθός (orthós, “straight; erect, upright; correct, true”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃erdʰ- (“to grow, increase; high; upright”)) + -γραφίᾱ (-graphíā, suffix meaning ‘drawing; writing’) (from γρᾰ́φω (grắphō, “to cut into, scratch; to write”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to carve”)). The English word is analyzable as ortho- (prefix meaning ‘proper, right; straight’) + -graphy (suffix denoting something written or otherwise represented in a specified manner, or about a specified subject). The verb is derived from the noun. First use appears before c....

Words formed from orthography

Words that rhyme with orthography

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about orthography

What does orthography mean?: Orthography means a method of representing a language or the sounds of language by written symbols; spelling.
What is orthography in Hindi?: Orthography in Hindi is वर्तनी (vartanī), इमला (imlā), हिज्जे (hijje). See Orthography meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is orthography?: Orthography can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce orthography?: Orthography is pronounced /ɔːˈθɒɡɹəfi/ (UK).
What is the plural of orthography?: The plural of orthography is orthographies.

Words near orthography in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: orthography (page history and authors); orthography (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); orthography (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-orthography.ogg.

Cite this entry: “orthography.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/orthography. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.