order

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈɔː.də/, US /ˈɔːr.dɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ordre, borrowed from Old French ordre, earlier ordene,^[2][3][4] from Latin ōrdō (“row, line, rank; series, arrangement”) (stem ōrdin-),^[2][5] originally “a row of threads in a loom”.^[2] It is related to ōrdīrī (“to begin to weave; to begin”) and ōrnāre (“to adorn”).^[6][7][8] Its further origin is uncertain: Watkins suggests a variant of the root Proto-Indo-European *ar- (“to fit together”), which de Vaan finds semantically attractive,^[2] and Klein also thinks it possibly from that root.^[8] In church senses the English word follows Medieval Latin use of the same noun.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rank, class, sequence and methodical arrangement, and a body of people living under a religious rule, both probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word reflected a medieval idea of a system of parts with fixed ranks and proportions, used of everything from architecture to the nine orders of angels,^[2][6][7] ideas that Old English had expressed with endebyrdnes.^[2] A rank in secular society is recorded about 1300,^[2] and “fit arrangement of parts” and “regular sequence” in the late 14th century.^[2][6] Orders of knighthood grew out of the Crusader fraternities.^[2] The Order of the Garter was founded by Edward III about 1344, and the story that its motto, Honi soit qui mal y pense, was the king's reply when a countess's garter fell off is a dubious tradition.^[11] The sense “a command” is from the 1540s, from the idea of what keeps things in order,^[2][3] “a written direction to pay money or deliver goods” by 1837, and “a request for food in a restaurant” from 1836.^[2] In biology an order is a group of related families (18th century), and in architecture a style of column and entablature (16th century).^[6] Out of order meant “not in normal sequence” in the 16th century, then “not in good health” in the 18th, and finally “not working” or “unacceptable” (late 18th century).^[11] Take orders, to become a priest, is Middle English.^[11] The verb meant “to arrange in rows or ranks” about 1200 and “to command” from the 1540s,^[2][3] and “to ask for (something) to be supplied” from 1763.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1200 – rank, sequence, and a religious order (Ancrene Riwle).^[3]
• c. 1200 – verb, to arrange in rows or ranks.^[2][3]
• c. 1300 – a rank in secular society.^[2]
• c. 1344 – the Order of the Garter.^[11]
• c. 1350 – a decree or rule.^[3]
• late 14th century – a regular sequence; fit arrangement.^[2]
• c. 1477 – orderly, adverb.^[3]
• 1540s – a command.^[2][3]
• 16th century – out of order, not in sequence.^[11]
• 1598 – orderly, well-behaved (Shakespeare).^[3]
• 1763 – verb, to ask for something to be supplied.^[2]
• 1800 – orderly, a military attendant.^[3]
• 1836 – an order in a restaurant.^[2]
• 1837 – a written order to pay or deliver.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A logical or regular arrangement of things.
2. Sequence: alphabetical order.
3. A state of peace and respect for authority: law and order.
4. Working condition: in good order, out of order.
5. A command or instruction.
6. A request for goods to be supplied, or for food in a restaurant.
7. A religious community living under a rule.
8. A society of knights, or an honour granted by a state: the Order of the Garter.
9. A rank or class: the lower orders.
10. (biology) A group of related families in classification.
11. (architecture) A style of column and entablature.

Verb

1. To give a command to.
2. To ask for (something) to be supplied: order a pizza.
3. To arrange methodically.
4. To ordain, predestine.

Word family

• orderer
• orderable
• orderless
• superorder
• suborder
• infraorder
• made-to-order
• counterorder

Related words

• ordain
• orderly
• ordinal
• ordinary
• ordinance
• coordinate
• subordinate
• adorn
• primordial

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press