orthogonal

adj : having a set of mutually perpendicular axes; meeting at

right angles; "wind and sea may displace the ship's

center of gravity along three orthogonal axes"; "a

rectangular Cartesian coordinate system" [syn: {rectangular}]

orthogonal

Mutually independent; well separated; sometimes, irrelevant

to. Used in a generalisation of its mathematical meaning to

describe sets of primitives or capabilities that, like a

vector basis in geometry, span the entire "capability space"

of the system and are in some sense non-overlapping or

mutually independent.

In logic, the set of operators "not" and "or" is orthogonal,

but the set "nand", "or", and "not" is not (because any one of

these can be expressed in terms of the others).

Also used in comments on human discourse: "This may be

orthogonal to the discussion, but ..."

See also {orthogonal instruction set}.

[{Jargon File}]

(1994-12-21)