Etymology

orthodromic

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Today it means: Of or relating to a means of navigation by following an arc of the great circle corresponding to the shortest distance between two points on the globe. Full definition →

Ancient Greek δρόμος (drómos) ← Proto-Indo-European *drem- ← English ortho-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₃er-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₃érdʰeti?
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₃erdʰ-
  5. Proto-Hellenic*ortʰwós
  6. Ancient Greekὀρθός (orthós)
  7. Englishortho-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*drem-
  9. Ancient Greekδρόμος (drómos)
  10. English todayorthodromic

From ortho- + Ancient Greek δρόμος (drómos, “a course, race course, road”) + English -ic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.