ordinazione

Forms

ordinazione f (plural ordinazioni)^[1] An old form was Old Italian ordinacione.^[2]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin ōrdinātiō (“arrangement”), from ōrdinō (“to arrange, order”).^{[3][4][2][5][1]} The Latin noun is formed from the verb with the suffix -tiō.^[5][1] In Church Latin it took the sense “conferring of holy orders”.^[6][7]

Zingarelli and Gabrielli treat the word as two: the commercial word as a derivative of ordinare, and the ecclesiastical one as a learned borrowing of the Latin.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1308 in its general sense, “the act of putting in order, arrangement”, and the sense “ordination” to before 1342.^[8] GRADIT and Nocentini date it to the 14th century.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In older Italian ordinazione meant an ordering, arrangement or regulation, as in the ordinazione di Dio of medieval religious prose, a sense the modern dictionaries call rare or archaic.^[10][2][7] The sacramental sense, the rite of conferring holy orders, came from the Latin of the Church.^[6][7]

The commercial sense, an order for goods or work given to a firm or a craftsman, is now the main one, and in bars and restaurants it is the order taken by a waiter.^[4][11][7] A medical prescription is also an ordinazione.^[4][7]

Timeline

• 1308 – The word is first recorded, in the sense “arrangement”.^[8]
• Before 1342 – The sense “ordination” is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. An order for goods, or a commission for a job of work: Il sarto lavora solo su ordinazione.^{[4][11][6][7]}
2. In a bar or restaurant, the order for food and drink, and the items ordered: Il cameriere è passato a prendere l'ordinazione.^[4][11][9]
3. (Catholic Church) ordination, the rite conferring holy orders: ordinazione sacerdotale.^{[4][11][6][7]}
4. (uncommon) A medical prescription.^[4][11][7]
5. (archaic) Arrangement, ordinamento.^[4][11][8]

Related words

• ordinare
• ordine
• ordinamento
• Latin ōrdinātiō

Usage notes

Su ordinazione means “made to order”.^[4][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
8. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier