ordinance

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ˈɔrdɪnəns/ UK /ˈɔːdɪnəns/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an authoritative rule or law, especially one made by a municipality

A new city ordinance banned smoking in all public parks.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an authoritative rule or... decree statute regulation law edict rule enactment bylaw

Word family

Related forms ordain order ordinary ordination

Etymology

From Old French 'ordenance' ('decree, command, arrangement'), from Medieval Latin 'ordinantia', from Latin 'ordinare' ('to set in order'), from 'ordo' ('order, rank').

ordinare Latin ordo Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government

External links

# ordinance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɔrdɪnəns/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɔːdɪnəns/

## Meanings
1. an authoritative rule or law, especially one made by a municipality

## Examples
- A new city ordinance banned smoking in all public parks.

## Synonyms
- decree
- statute
- regulation
- law
- edict
- rule
- enactment
- bylaw

## Related Forms
- ordain
- order
- ordinary
- ordination

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ordinare
- Root: ordo

## Etymology
From Old French 'ordenance' ('decree, command, arrangement'), from Medieval Latin 'ordinantia', from Latin 'ordinare' ('to set in order'), from 'ordo' ('order, rank').

## AI Etymology
Ordinance is from Old French 'ordenance' ('decree, command, arrangement'), from Medieval Latin 'ordinantia', from Latin 'ordinare' ('to set in order'), from 'ordo' ('order, rank'). Important recorded forms include ordinare (Latin) and ordo (Latin). The modern sense follows that older lexical line closely. In current use it covers an authoritative rule or law, especially one made by a municipality. The wider family includes related words such as ordain, order, ordinary, and ordination.

## Topics
- Law & Government

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