order

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of putting things in a sequential arrangement

   there were mistakes in the ordering of items on the list

2. 2
   noun

   a degree in a continuum of size or quantity

   it was on the order of a mile

3. 3
   noun

   a commercial document used to request someone to supply something in return for payment and providing specifications and quantities

   IBM received an order for a hundred computers

4. 4
   noun

   a legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge)

   a friend in New Mexico said that the order caused no trouble out there

5. 5
   noun

   a body of rules followed by an assembly

   The chairman strictly enforced the orders for the committee.

6. 6
   noun

   often plural, a command given by a superior that must be obeyed, such as a military or law enforcement officer

   The British ships dropped anchor and waited for orders from London.

7. 7
   noun

   a request for something to be made, supplied, or served

   I gave the waiter my order

8. 8
   noun

   a group of person living under a religious rule

   the order of Saint Benedict

Etymology

From Middle English ordre, from Old French ordre, ordne, ordene (“order, rank”), from Latin ōrdinem, accusative of ōrdō (“row, rank, regular arrangement”, literally “row of threads in a loom”), from Proto-Italic *ordō (“to arrange”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂or-d-, from *h₂er-. Related to Latin ōrdior (“begin”, literally “begin to weave”). In sense “request for purchase”, compare bespoke. Doublet of ordo. Compare typologically Russian поря́док (porjádok) (akin to ряд (rjad)).