ordonner

Forms

ordonner^[1] Old French ordener (1119) and ordiner (about 1200);^[2][3] ordonner is found from about 1200 and became the usual form in the 14th century.^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also had ordeiner and ordeigner.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ordener, borrowed from Latin ordinō (“to set in order, arrange”), derived from ordō (“row, order”), the source of ordre.^{[2][6][3][1][7]} The form closer to Latin, ordiner, was also used in the Middle Ages.^[3][2] The spelling with ⟨-onner⟩ arose very early and probably follows donner.^[2][4][8][1]

In Imperial Latin the verb had taken the senses “to govern, dispose of”, in Church Latin “to consecrate (a priest)” and in medical Latin “to prescribe”.^[6] Cognate with Old Occitan ordenar, Spanish ordenar and Italian ordinare.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1119 in Philippe de Thaon's Comput, in lampes … en ordre ordenees “lamps arranged in a row”, with the sense “to set in a certain order”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

From the earliest texts the verb meant both “to arrange” and, from the early 12th century, “to establish someone in a state”, in particular to ordain a priest (about 1140, Gaimar).^[2][6] The sense “to command” appears about 1165 in Benoît de Sainte-Maure, with ordonner que (1524–1527) and ordonner de (1580) following.^[2][6] According to Bloch and Wartburg, “to give an order” began in legal language at the end of the 14th century and has been the main sense since the 16th, probably after Latin legal usage.^[3]

In the 16th century the verb took the senses “to rule by a court order” (1538) and “to prescribe (a remedy)” (1558–1560); “to order a payment” (about 1590) did not survive the classical period.^[2][6] The sense of arranging was refined to classifying methodically (1765), especially in mathematics.^[6] The past participle ordonné qualifies an orderly person, as in une tête bien ordonnée (1798), and its feminine ordonnée became the mathematical “ordinate” (1639).^[6] The proverb charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même keeps the old sense “well regulated”.^[1][9]

Timeline

• 1119 – Ordener “to set in order”, in Philippe de Thaon.^[2]
• c. 1140 – “To ordain (a priest)”, in Gaimar.^[2]
• c. 1165 – “To command”, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[2]
• c. 1200 – The forms ordiner and ordonner.^[2]
• 1260 – The derivative ordenance, later ordonnance.^[6]
• 1538 – The legal sense “to rule by a court order”.^[2]
• 1558 – “To prescribe a remedy”.^[2]
• 1639 – Ordonnée in mathematics.^[6]
• 1765 – Équation ordonnée.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To arrange, put in a certain order: ordonner ses idées; pronominal s'ordonner, to fall into order.^[10][2]
2. (mathematics) To order the elements of a set; to write a polynomial in increasing or decreasing powers of one term.^[10][9]
3. (religion) To ordain, confer holy orders on: ordonner un prêtre.^[10][1]
4. To command, order: ordonner à quelqu'un de partir, ordonner que with the subjunctive.^[10][11]
5. To prescribe a treatment or medicine.^[1][2]
6. (law) To decree by a court order.^[2][11]

Word family

• ordonnance
• désordonné
• ordonné
• ordonnée

Related words

• ordre
• ordination
• Latin ordinō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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
3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 395a
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)