Both Uses of
orthodox
in
A Prayer for Owen Meany
- "Perhaps we're being too literal about this song," Mr. Wiggin interjected, but I knew there was no such thing as "too literal" for Owen Meany, who grasped orthodoxy from wherever it could be found.†
p. 171.2orthodoxy = a commonly accepted belief or practice
- The solution, the Rev. Dudley Wiggin proposed, was" to omit the fifth verse of "We Three Kings," but Owen denounced this as unorthodox.†
p. 172.8 *unorthodox = unusual (describing thinking or behavior as uncommon or nontraditional)standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unorthodox means not and reverses the meaning of orthodox. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
Definitions:
-
(1)
(orthodox) normal (describing thinking or behavior as commonly or traditionally accepted)
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
"Orthodox" (especially when capitalized) can also reference churches or religious orders that are more conservative than those that are non-orthodox.