order

or•der

[[t]ˈɔr dər[/t]] n.

1) an authoritative direction or instruction; command

2) the disposition of things following one after another; succession or sequence:

alphabetical order[/ex]

3) a condition in which each thing is properly disposed with reference to other things and to its purpose; methodical or harmonious arrangement

4) formal disposition or array

5) proper, satisfactory, or working condition

6) state or condition generally:

in good working order[/ex]

7) conformity or obedience to law or established authority:

to maintain law and order[/ex]

8) customary mode of procedure; established practice or usage

9) the customary or prescribed mode of proceeding in debates, legislative bodies, meetings, etc.:

parliamentary rules of order[/ex]

10) prevailing course or arrangement of things; established system or regime:

The old order is changing[/ex]

11) a direction or commission to make, provide, or furnish something

12) a quantity of goods or items purchased or sold

13) a portion of food requested or served in a restaurant

14) math. Math.

a) degree, as in algebra

b) the number of rows or columns of a square matrix or determinant

c) the number of times a function has been differentiated to produce a given derivative:

a second-order derivative[/ex]

d) math. the highest derivative appearing in a given differential equation

e) the number of elements of a given group

15) a class, kind, or sort distinguished from others by character or rank:

talents of a high order[/ex]

16) bio Biol. the usual major subdivision of a class or subclass in the classification of organisms, consisting of one or more families

17) a rank or class of persons in a community

18) a group or body of persons of the same profession, occupation, or pursuits

19) rel a body or society of persons living by common consent under the same religious, moral, or social regulations

20) rel any of the degrees or grades of clerical office

Compare major order minor order

21) rel a monastic society or fraternity:

the Franciscan order[/ex]

22) rel any of the nine grades of angels in medieval angelology

Compare angel 1)

23) a written direction to pay money or deliver goods, given by a person legally entitled to dispose of it

24) archit.

a) an arrangement of columns with an entablature

b) any of five styles of column and entablature typical of classical architecture, including the Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite styles

25) rel orders, the rank or status of an ordained Christian minister

26) rel Usu., orders. the rite or sacrament of ordination

27) rel a prescribed form of religious service or of administration of a rite

28) a society or fraternity of knights, of combined military and monastic character, as the medieval Knights Templars

29) an organization or fraternal society in some way resembling the knightly orders

30) cvb (cap.)

a) a special honor or rank conferred by a sovereign upon a person for distinguished achievement

b) the insignia worn by such persons

31) to give an order or command to

32) to direct or command to go or come as specified:

She ordered them out of her house[/ex]

33) to direct to be made or supplied:

to order a copy of a book[/ex]

34) to prescribe

35) to regulate, conduct, or manage

36) to arrange methodically or suitably

37) math. Math. to arrange (the elements of a set) so that if one element precedes another, it cannot be preceded by the other or by elements that the other precedes

38) to ordain

39) to give an order or issue orders

•

- call to order in order in order that in order to on order on the order of out of order to order

Etymology: 1175–1225; ME ordre < OF < L ōrdinem, acc. of ōrdō row, rank syn: See direct