orthography

American  

[awr-thog-ruh-fee] / ɔrˈθɒg rə fi /

noun

orthographies plural

1. the art of writing words with the proper letters, according to accepted usage; correct spelling.

2. the part of language study concerned with letters and spelling.

3. a method of spelling, as by the use of an alphabet or other system of symbols; spelling.

4. a system of such symbols.

   Missionaries provided the first orthography for the language.

5. an orthographic projection, or an elevation drawn by means of it.

---

orthography British  

/ ɔːˈθɒɡrəfɪ /

noun

1. a writing system

2. 1. spelling considered to be correct

   2. the principles underlying spelling

3. the study of spelling

4. orthographic projection

---

Other Word Forms

• orthographer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of orthography

1425–75; late Middle English ortografye < Latin orthographia correct writing, orthogonal projection < Greek orthographía. See ortho-, -graphy

Explanation

If you speak English — and you probably do if you're reading this — an orthography or writing system of "A, B, C, D..." makes sense. The Serbian language uses a different orthography: "A B C Č Ć D Dž Đ..." From Greek orthographia, meaning "correct writing," an orthography is a way to represent words by having set ways to spell and write them. Orthography helps you identify words so you can figure out their meanings. Different languages usually have different systems of orthography, and even subsets of language, like text-messaging lingo, have a sort of orthography.

Example Sentences

Certainly some Italian words and phrases appear in the Works of Shakespeare; yet if we had nothing else to observe, their Orthography might lead us to suspect them to be not of the Writer's importation.

From Eighteenth Century Essays on Shakespeare by Smith, David Nichol

On the Orthography and Pronunciation of Slavic proper names, see the note on p.

From Historical View of the Languages and Literature of the Slavic Nations by Robinson, Therese Albertine Louise von Jacob

My part has been this, and it has been a very pleasing one: to revise the MS. making occasionally corrections with respect to Orthography, and sometimes in the grammatical construction.

From The Farmer's Boy A Rural Poem by Bloomfield, Robert

Tho’ the Corruption of our English Orthography indulges some appearance of Distinction between Brand and Braund, yet in Effect they are one and the same thing.

From A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling (1726) [and] Pudding and Dumpling Burnt to Pot. Or a Compleat Key to the Dissertation on Dumpling (1727) by Macey, Samuel L.

"For the sake of occupying the room more advantagously, the subject of Orthography is merely glanced at."

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold