ordinale

Forms

ōrdināle n (genitive ōrdinālis); third declension^[1][2] The phrase liber ōrdinālis is used in the same sense.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin ōrdinālis (“denoting order”), the neuter of the adjective used as a noun in Medieval Latin.^[3][5][1] The adjective is from ōrdō (“row, order”).^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it to about 1200.^[1] Alexander Neckam lists it among the books a church should have, as ordinale sive consuetudinarium, the book of the order of services.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense was the liturgical book that set out the order of services.^[3][6][2] Du Cange quotes Lyndwood's definition of it as the book that orders how the divine office is said and celebrated, and the report in Ranulf's Polychronicon that Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, composed an ordinal of the church's office that was used in nearly all England, Wales and Ireland.^[4] It also named the book with the rite for ordaining clergy, and figuratively a rule of conduct: Walter of Wimborne calls the Virgin an ordinal of holiness.^[6] In 1414 it was the script of a play.^[6] Stelten gives it as the former name of the Ritual.^[2]

English ordinal, a book of the order of services, is from the early 14th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1177–1217 – Alexander Neckam lists it among the books of a church.^[6]
• 1236 – The English king orders a troper and an ordinal for his chapel.^[6]
• 1299 – A Canterbury register orders two or three friars to compile a reliable ordinal of divine service.^[6]
• early 14th century – English takes it as ordinal.^[5]
• 1368 – A Norwich inventory lists two ordinals, one bound with a tonal.^[6]
• 1414 – A record from Devon uses it for the script of a play.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A liturgical book giving the order of services, an ordinal.^[6][3][4][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) A book with the rite for the ordination of clergy.^[6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A rule or direction for conduct; also figurative.^[6]
4. (Medieval Latin) The script of a play.^[6]

Related words

• ōrdinātiō
• English ordinal

References

1. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
3. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press