ordonnance

Forms

ordonnance f (plural ordonnances)^[1] Old French ordenance and ordrenance; the spelling ordonnance is recorded about 1380.^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman spellings include ordinance, ordeinance and ordenaunce.^[5]

Etymology

It is formed from French ordonner + -ance, first as Old French ordenance.^[1][3][6][7] The verb, Old French ordener, took its present form in the 14th century, probably after donner;^[6] Bloch and Wartburg describe it as from Latin ordinō (“to put in rank, to arrange”).^[6]

Compare Occitan ordenansa, Spanish ordenanza and Italian ordinanza.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is ordenance in Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers (1260), meaning the rules laid down by those who have the right to make them; the form ordrenance, in 1287, means a will or decision of a superior.^[9][2] The Grand Robert and the GLLF date ordenance to about 1180.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word first expressed a decision coming from a superior; in constitutional law it named a text issued directly by the executive, at first the king (14th century), without a vote of a parliament.^[2][9] From it came d'ordonnance “regulation, conforming to the rules”, especially in the army (1729, habit d'ordonnance).^[2][9] In Middle French it entered finance (1462) and the courts, for a decision of a judge (1510).^[2] The medical prescription is recorded in 1558, and the decree of the police prefect in 1755.^[9][2]

From the late 13th century it also meant the arrangement of the parts of a whole according to an order (about 1278), then the order of a ceremony or meal (about 1393).^[2][9] In the 16th and 17th centuries it passed into architecture (1548) and painting (1622), where it named first the sketch of a picture and then the arrangement of its masses (1676).^[2][9]

In the army it named a horseman carrying an officer's messages (1752), then a soldier serving an officer as a servant (1836); in that sense it is often masculine.^[9][10] English ordinance (about 1300) comes from the Old French form or from Medieval Latin.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – Ordenance is found, according to the Grand Robert and the GLLF.^[3][4]
• 1260 – Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers uses it for the rules of the Paris trades.^[9][2]
• c. 1278 – Jean de Meun uses it of an arrangement according to an order.^[9][2]
• 1287 – Ordrenance is a decision of a superior.^[9]
• c. 1300 – English ordinance is recorded.^[11]
• c. 1380 – The spelling ordonnance appears.^[3][4]
• c. 1393 – The Ménagier de Paris speaks of the ordering of a wedding and a supper.^[9]
• 1510 – It names a decision taken by a judge.^[9][2]
• 1548 – First use in architecture.^[9][2]
• 1558 – Des Périers uses it for a doctor's prescription.^[9][2]
• 1729 – Marivaux writes habit d'ordonnance “regulation uniform”.^[9]
• 1752 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records the officer's mounted messenger.^[9]
• 1812 – Officier d'ordonnance is recorded.^[9]
• 1836 – Balzac uses it for an officer's soldier-servant.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Arrangement, order, the way the parts of a whole are laid out, as the dishes of a meal or the rooms of a flat.^[10][9]
2. (painting, architecture) The overall composition of a picture or building, the grouping of its masses.^[10][4]
3. (constitutional law) A text with the force of law issued by the executive, formerly the king, now the government: an ordinance.^[10][9]
4. (law) A decision given by a single juge: une ordonnance de non-lieu.^[10][9]
5. Ordonnance de police: a decree of the Paris police prefect.^[10][9]
6. (finance) An order to pay given by a minister.^[10]
7. A doctor's prescription, and the paper on which it is written: sur ordonnance “on prescription”.^[10][1]
8. (military, historical) A soldier attached to an officer as his servant; often masculine in this sense.^[10][9]
9. D'ordonnance: conforming to regulations, revolver d'ordonnance;^[10][9] officier d'ordonnance, an officer serving as aide-de-camp.^[10][9]

Word family

• ordonnancement
• ordonnancer

Related words

• ordonner
• ordre
• ordonnateur
• Latin ordinō
• English ordinance

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 397a
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com