orthography

English orthography comes from Late Middle English ortografie, borrowed via Anglo-Norman or Middle French forms from Latin orthographia, itself from Koine Greek ὀρθογραφία, meaning correct spelling. The Greek word joins ortho- ("right, straight, upright") with -graphía ("writing"), tracing back further to Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "to grow upright" and "to carve."

The word entered English before c. 1460 already meaning "spelling," and it has kept that core sense ever since, though a related Latin meaning, "building elevation," shows the ortho- + graph- combination could also apply to keeping a structure's lines straight and true.

It shares its Latin root with cognates like Italian ortografia, Spanish ortografía, Catalan ortografia, and Portuguese ortografia — all descendants of the same Latin orthographia.