orde

Forms

orde f (plural ordes or orden, no diminutive)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch ordene, borrowed from Old French ordene and also taken directly from Latin ōrdō (“row, series; order, rank”), whose stem appears in the oblique case ōrdinem.^[2][3][4][5] Franck and Van Wijk think the word probably came in by both routes at once.^[5] The Latin noun first meant a row of threads in a loom and probably belongs with ōrdior (“to lay the warp; to begin”).^[2] The Old French noun is ordre in its later form (modern French ordre), and French senses such as “rank”, “command” and “arrangement” went on shaping the Dutch word.^[2]

Middle Dutch had ⟨ordene⟩, ⟨ordine⟩, ⟨orden⟩ and ⟨oorde⟩; the modern form arose when the final /n/ of ⟨orden⟩ was lost.^[6][7][8] Early Modern Dutch used ⟨orde⟩, ⟨orden⟩ and order without any difference in meaning, until ⟨order⟩ split off with the sense “command”.^[2][6] The sense “society bound by a rule”, as in a religious or knightly order, the Philippa dictionary takes directly from Medieval Latin ordo (“monastic order”) (1211), and it gives it a numbered entry of its own.^[2] The same loan is Old High German ordena (modern German Orden), Middle Low German orde and Old Frisian orden.^[5][9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is from a Ghent text of 1236, which speaks of the custom in other ordinen, other religious orders, of beginning matins with Domine labia mea.^[10] A Limburg glossary of about 1240 gives ordene for Latin ordo and in ordene for seriatim, “in a row, in turn”.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the word meant a sequence or row (the order of the alphabet in 1287), a rank or estate, a monastic order and a rule of life.^[10][7] The Cistercians were de grauwe ordene, the grey order, in a Brabant life of Saint Lutgard of 1276.^[10] The Philippa dictionary dates the sense “rule, regular arrangement” in phrases such as goet regiment ende orde to 1584, and the military sense “battle array” to 1658.^[2] Knightly orders appear in the early 16th century, the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1642.^[2]

From the 18th century in orde meant “as it should be”, of a garden kept tidy (1714) or of a house made ready (1785), and by 1808 it was also said of a person's health.^[6] The phrase aan de orde van de dag zijn translates être à l'ordre du jour.^[11] Dutch carried the word to Indonesian, Papiamentu, Sranan and Negerhollands, and either Dutch or Low German gave Danish and Norwegian orden.^[12][1]

Timeline

• 1236 – Ordinen “religious orders” in a Ghent text.^[10]
• c. 1240 – Ordene glosses Latin ordo and series in Limburg.^[10][2]
• 1276 – De grauwe ordene, the Cistercian order.^[10]
• 1287 – Dordine van a b c, the order of the alphabet.^[10]
• 1350 – The form orde is recorded.^[13][3]
• 1584 – Goet regiment ende orde, good government and regularity.^[2]
• 1642 – Hooft der orde van 't Gulde vlies, head of the Order of the Golden Fleece.^[2]
• 1714 – Gardens kept in orde, in good condition.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. order, arrangement: the regular placing of things in a whole: ze bracht haar papieren in orde.^[14][1][15]
2. A settled, quiet state, discipline: de leraar kon geen orde houden.^[14][1]
3. The fixed sequence of business in a meeting: dat punt komt straks aan de orde.^[14]
4. An association of people bound by a rule, especially a religious or knightly order: hij trad in een strenge orde.^[14][1]
5. (biology) A rank in the classification of living things, between klasse and familie.^[14][1][15]
6. (architecture) A system of columns and the parts they carry.^[14]
7. A decoration of honour, and the society that awards it.^[1][12]

Word family

• ordentelijk
• kloosterorde
• onderorde
• ordelijk
• volgorde
• wanorde
• ordeloos
• ordenen
• rechtsorde
• wereldorde

Related words

• order
• ordineren
• French ordre

Usage notes

Order is the form for “command”, and orde for the other senses; confusing them was condemned as a gallicism in 1899.^[2][6][16] Voor de goede orde is “for good order's sake”, and de gevestigde orde is the establishment.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
3. ^ a b Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
4. ^ Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ a b c d e Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
7. ^ a b c Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
8. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum
9. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Pijnenburg, W. J. J., et al. (2001), Vroegmiddelnederlands woordenboek: woordenboek van het Nederlands van de dertiende eeuw in hoofdzaak op basis van het Corpus-Gysseling, Leiden: Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie; gtb.ivdnt.org
11. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
12. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
14. ^ a b c d e f g Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
15. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
16. ^ Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer