Etymologically
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ordo

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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
  • 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).