ordenar

Forms

ordenar (first-person singular present ordeno, first-person singular preterite ordené, past participle ordenado)^[1] Old Spanish texts also spell it hordenar.^[2] Judeo-Spanish has ordenar beside the metathesised odrenar.^[3]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Latin ōrdinō (“to set in order, arrange”), a derivative of ōrdō (“row, rank, order”).^[4][1][5] Corominas calls it a semi-learned continuation of the Latin verb, like orden itself, whose fully popular development would have been quite different.^[6] Its frequent use in religious and political matters kept the learned shape.^[6] Wiktionary also counts it as semi-learned.^[1]

The fully popular outcome of the same family is ordeñar “to milk”, from *ordiniāre (“to arrange”).^[6][7] Shepherds used it as a technical term for the most important “arranging” of their animals.^[6] Old Portuguese still had ordinhar in the general sense “to dispose, to confer an ecclesiastical rank”.^[6][8]

The same Latin verb gave Portuguese ordenar, Catalan ordenar, Occitan ordenar, French ordonner, Italian ordinare and Romanian urdina.^[9][10][11] In French and in Old Catalan the vowel of the second syllable was reshaped after the verb “to give”, donner and donar.^[1][12]

According to de Vaan, the older verb formed from the noun was ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”).^[13] The verb was made later, when the link between the noun and that verb was no longer felt, and so it kept the general meaning “to put in order”.^[13] He traces the noun to *ord-n- (“row, order”) and, with a query, to a root Proto-Indo-European *h₂or-d-.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Around 1223 the Semejanza del mundo says that Our Lord ordenó e puso the creatures on the earth “arranged and placed”, in the sense “to dispose, arrange”.^[14] Corominas's first record is Berceo (1220–1250), who uses it for arranging and establishing, for commanding, for founding churches and for ordaining bishops and priests: Ordenaron obispos, otros prestes menores “they ordained bishops and other lesser priests”.^[6][15][16]

Semantic evolution

The main senses were all present in the 13th century.^[17] The prose of Alfonso X uses it for putting things in good order, for commanding, as when the heavenly bodies move segund lo ordenó Dios “as God ordained it”, and for conferring and receiving holy orders.^[17] In Latin the verb had already passed from “to put in order” to “to govern, command”, and church Latin had used it for ordaining a priest.^[18][19] Nebrija gives Latin ordino for the general verb and initio for ordaining.^[20]

Autoridades defines four senses: to arrange, to command, to direct towards an end and to confer orders.^[21] Terreros adds the orders of a doctor, “to prescribe”.^[22] The reflexive ordenarse “to take holy orders” entered the Academy's dictionary in 1843.^[23] In the Chilean dictionary of Román it is also the grammarians' verb for arranging the words of a sentence in their regular order.^[24]

Under the influence of English to order, Spanish of the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and parts of South America uses it for ordering food or drink in a bar or restaurant and for ordering goods.^[25][26][27]

Timeline

• c. 1223 – the Semejanza del mundo uses ordenó “arranged”.^[14]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo uses the verb for arranging, establishing and ordaining.^[15][16]
• 1250–1279 – the Alfonsine Lapidario uses it for what God ordained.^[17]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija's Spanish–Latin dictionary gives ordino and, for holy orders, initio.^[20][28]
• 1527 – the first record from the Americas, in Santa Marta.^[29]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades gives the senses “arrange”, “command”, “direct to an end” and “confer orders”.^[21]
• 1843 – the Academy adds the reflexive “to receive the tonsure or holy orders”.^[23]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from Latin for the first time.^[30]
• 2010 – the DAMER records the sense “to order (food, goods)” across much of the Americas.^[25]

Meanings

Verb

1. To arrange things or people according to a plan or in a suitable way; to put in order, sort or tidy: Ordenamos los libros por autor.^[4][1][31]
2. To direct something towards an end.^[4]
3. To command, give an order: El capitán ordenó volver al barco.^[4][1]
4. (religion) To ordain, confer holy orders on someone.^[4][1]
5. (religion, reflexive) To be ordained, receive holy orders.^[4]
6. (Latin America) To order food or drink in a bar or restaurant; to order goods.^[25][1][26]

Word family

• ordenamiento
• ordenación
• ordenanza
• desordenar
• reordenar

Related words

• orden
• ordenador
• ordeñar
• ordinario
• coordinar
• subordinar
• Latin ordino

Usage notes

Ordeno y mando is colloquially a rigidly authoritarian attitude, and de ordeno y mando describes someone who imposes their will harshly.^[4][31] The title may follow with or without de: ordenarse de sacerdote.^[32][26]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. ordenar
3. ^ Nehama, Joseph (1977), Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol, Madrid: CSIC, p. s.v. ordenar
4. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. ordenar
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. ordinō
6. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 291
7. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 522
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ordenhar
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6090
10. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 4703
11. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ordenar
12. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. ordenar
13. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. ordenar
15. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. orden
16. ^ a b Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 541
17. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. ordenar
18. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. ordenar
19. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ordinare
20. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. ordenar
21. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 50
22. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 717
23. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 514
24. ^ Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 77
25. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. ordenar
26. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. ordenar
27. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. ordenar
28. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 390
29. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. ordenar
30. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 763
31. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ordenar
32. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1229