mid-15c., of opinions, faith, from Late Latin orthodoxus, from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion," from orthos "right, true, straight" (see ortho-) + doxa "opinion, praise," from dokein "to seem," from PIE root *dek- "to take, accept" (see decent). As the name of the Eastern Church, first recorded in English 1772; in reference to a branch of Judaism, first recorded 1853.
(from Greek orthodoxos, "of the right opinion"), true doctrine and its adherents as opposed to heterodox or heretical doctrines and their adherents. The word was first used in early 4th-century Christianity by the Greek Fathers. Because almost every Christian group believes that it holds the true faith (though not necessarily exclusively), the meaning of "orthodox" in a particular instance can be correctly determined only after examination of the context in which it appears.