Etymologically
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order

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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
  • 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