ordo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈoːr.doː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔr.do]^[1]

Forms

ōrdō m (genitive ōrdinis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ord-n- (“row, order”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂or-d-, a d-extension of the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to fit”).^[2][1] The Oxford Latin Dictionary connects it with ordior “to begin a web”, so first “a thread on the loom”.^[3][4] The verb ōrnō “to equip” is an old derivative.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius uses it.^[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a row, as Cicero's trees planted in quincunx rows, a line or rank of soldiers, and a century as a military unit, led by the ōrdinis ductor.^[3] It was a class or order of citizens, as the senatorial order, and an arrangement, sequence or regular order.^[3][1] Döderlein contrasts it with seriēs, a merely outward row.^[6]

In medieval Latin it was a manner, legal regulations and the order of a ceremony.^[7] In Ecclesiastical Latin an ōrdō was a guide to the liturgy, as the Ōrdō Rōmānus.^[1] English order is recorded around 1200 of a religious order, and ordinary comes from ōrdinārius.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of rows of trees.^[9][5]
• c. 1200 – English order is recorded of a religious order.^[8]
• c. 1400 – English ordinary is recorded, from ōrdinārius.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A row, line.^[3][10]
2. A rank (of soldiers); a century; command of a century.^[3][1]
3. A class, order, rank (of citizens).^[3][1]
4. Arrangement, sequence, regular order.^[3][1]
5. (Medieval Latin) A manner; a rite.^[7]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A guide to the liturgy.^[1]

Word family

• ōrdinālis
• ōrdinārius
• ōrdinō
• ōrnō

Related words

• ōrdināriē
• ōrdinātē
• ōrdinātim
• ōrdinātiō
• ōrdinātīvus
• ōrdinātor
• ōrdinātrix
• ōrdinātus
• ordior
• English order
• English ordinary

Usage notes

Isidore says the order of bishops has four ranks: patriarchs, archbishops, metropolitans and bishops.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).