| 释义 |
▪ I. order, n.|ˈɔːdə(r)|
Forms: 3–6 ordre, 4– order, (4–5 -ir, -yr, 4–6 -our, -ur, 5 wordre).
[ME. a. OF. ordre (11th c.):—*ordne, ad. L. ordin-em (nom. ordo) row, series, course, order, array, etc.
Many senses of the word had been developed before it was adopted in OF. and Eng. The order of the appearance of the senses here is consequently not that of their logical development in L., ancient and mediæval. The specific senses of ‘order of angels’ and ‘monastic order’ appear in the Ancren Riwle; nearly all the ecclesiastical uses, with that of ‘a rank of the community’, are found by 1300; but the primary sense of ‘row or rank’ appears first in the 16th c. The arrangement here followed is in many points merely provisional.]
I. Rank generally; a rank, grade, class.
1. A rank, row, series; one of several parallel series behind or above one another. Obs. or arch.
1563W. Fulke Meteors (1640) 26 b, Thick cloudes over us, and commonly a double order of cloudes, one above an other. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Consurgo, Terno consurgunt ordine remi, thei rowed with three orders of oars on a side. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 459 It beareth three orders or rows of horns on the head. 1608A. Willet Hexapla Exod. 851 Euerie side had these fiue orders or rankes of barres. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 197 [It] hath no other Ornament besides one Single Order of Columns. 1863P. S. Worsley Poems & Transl. 9 And wheels, a countless order, each like each.
b. Arch. A series of mouldings. (See also 9.)
1845Paley Gothic Mouldings 10 An arch of two or more orders, is one which is recessed by so many successive planes or retiring arches, each placed behind and beneath the next before it. 1879Sir G. Scott Med. Archit. I. 224 This suggested the system of sub-ordinating the rims, or recessing them, one behind the other, so as to divide the arch into what are called orders.
c. Physics. Each of a successive series of spectra formed by the interference or diffraction of light; hence, a positive number characterizing a particular spectrum or interference fringe, now recognized as equal to the number of wavelengths by which the optical paths of successive contributing rays differ.
1704Newton Opticks ii. 6 The third Circuit or Order was purple, blue, green, yellow, and red. 1722Phil. Trans. R. Soc. XXXI. 244 We had here four Orders of Colours, and perhaps the beginning of a fifth, for what..I call the Purple, is a Mixture of the Purple of each of the upper Series with the Red of the next below it. 1831Brewster Optics xii. 103 Seven rings, or rather seven circular spectra or orders of colours. 1874Phil. Mag. XLVII. 194 In considering the influence of the number of lines (n) and the order of the spectrum (m), we will suppose that the ruling [of the diffraction grating] is accurate. 1953Spink & Feigl tr. Pinsker's Electron Diffraction ii. 26 We obtain..nλ = 2d sin θ, n being the order of the reflection [sc. of electrons from a crystal]. This gives the number of whole wave⁓lengths corresponding to the path difference for waves scattered by two neighbouring parallel planes of the direct lattice. 1967W. H. Steel Interferometry viii. 139 Observation of the interference fringes yields only the excess fraction ε of the order of interference, the amount by which the order exceeds some unknown integer.
2. A rank of the community, consisting of persons of the same status (esp. in relation to other ranks higher or lower); a social division, grade, or stratum; esp. in the phrases higher orders, lower orders.
a1300Cursor M. 25268 Yong and ald, bath mare and less, of alkin ordre þat here es. 1538Starkey England i. iii. 77 Al statys, ordurys, and degres..in our cuntrey. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. 105 The Scottis peple is deuydet in thrie ordouris. 1712Steele Spect. No. 436 ⁋1 A Place of no small Renown for the Gallantry of the lower Order of Britons, namely..the Bear-Garden. 1749Fielding Tom Jones vi. ix, Controversies that arise among the lower orders of the English Gentry, at Horse-races, Cock matches, and other public Places. 1776Foote Bankrupt iii. Wks. 1799 II. 132 All orders concur to give up a great public benefit, for the sake and security of private honour and peace. 1822G. Hornby Serm. Establ. Savings bank at Bury, The young women amongst the lower orders. 1823H. Ravelin Lucubr. 317 By all classes of society, and by the middle orders in particular. 1893J. Adderley S. Remarx i. 2 That part of the Catechism is written for the lower orders.
b. A definite rank in the state.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. iv. 19 (Add. MS.) The kyng..caste hym to transporten vpon al þe ordre of þe senat þe gilt of his real maieste. 1683Britanniæ Speculum Pref. 2, The most High and Sacred Order of Kings, which is the Ordinance of God himself. 1845Disraeli Sybil ii. ii, I made a speech to the order [of baronets of England] at the Clarendon; there were four hundred of us.
c. Rank or position in the abstract.
1667Milton P.L. i. 506 These were the prime in order and in might. 1784Cowper Task iv. 586 All the graduated scale Of order, from the chariot to the plough. 1842Tennyson Vision of Sin 86 What care I for any name? What for order or degree?
3. A body of persons of the same profession, occupation, or pursuits, constituting or regarded as a separate class in the community, or united by some special interest.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 417 To grounde soche ordiris of beggers. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxvii. §2 Ministerial power..seuereth them that haue it from other men, and maketh them a speciall order consecrated unto the service of the Most High... Their difference therefore from other men, is in that they are a distinct order... And St. Paul himself dividing the body of the Church..nameth the one part ἰδιώτας,..the Order of the Laity, the opposite part wherunto we in like sort term the Order of God's Clergy. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. i. 26 The Archbishop Of Canterbury, accompanied with other Learned, and Reuerend Fathers of his Order. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. (1869) I. xii. 243 A generous though transient enthusiasm seemed to animate the military order. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 92 The spirit of the whole clerical order rose against this injustice.
4. A class, group, kind, or sort, of persons, beings, or things, having its rank in a scale of being, excellence, or importance, or distinguished from others by nature or character.
1736Butler Anal. i. iii. 87 Good men may naturally unite, not only amongst themselves, but also with other orders of virtuous Creatures. 1751Harris Hermes Wks. (1841) 172 Verbs, participles, and adjectives, may be called attributives of the first order. The reason..will be better understood, when we have more fully discussed attributives of the second order. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 2 Every order and rank of animals seems fitted for its situation in life. 1794Burke Let. to Dk. Portland Corr. IV. 236 Three or four of the senior fellows are men of the first order. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 233 If we consider the vegetable Order..we shall find it divided..into three great classes, namely, into herbs, into shrubs, and into trees. 1798Ferriar Illustr. Sterne iv. 134 There may be as many different orders of beauty as of architecture. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. i, He possessed talents of a high order. 1877‘H. A. Page’ De Quincy I. i. 1 All literature that comes under the order of pure phantasy. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. III. cii. 429 Cornell..is an instance; Johns Hopkins [College] in Baltimore is another of a different order.
II. Rank in specific departments.
5. Each of the nine ranks or grades of angels, according to mediæval angelology. Also, any analogous class of spiritual or demonic beings.
The nine orders of angels are enumerated first in the Pseudo-Dionysius (4th c.), according to which there are three hierarchies, each including three orders: these are seraphim, cherubim, thrones; dominations, principalities, powers; virtues, archangels, angels. (The names are derived from the mention of cherubim and seraphim in the O.T., and from words used by St. Paul in enumerating things in heaven and in the earth, in Coloss. i. 16, Ephes. i. 21.)
a1225Ancr. R. 30 Þer beoð niene englene ordres. a1300Cursor M. 430 Of angels wald he serued be, Þat suld of ordres [v.r. ordoures] haf thris thre. c1400Prymer 47 Alle ordris of holi spiritis, preie ȝe for us! 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxv. 31 Of angellis all the ordouris nyne. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. i. ii. (1676) 26/1 Those orders of good and bad Devels, which the Platonists hold. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 885 As they went, Shaded with branching Palme, each order bright, Sung Triumph, and him sung Victorious King. a1711Ken Hymns Evang. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 35 Nine heavenly orders enter one by one, The lowest shin'd much brighter than the sun. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 515 A subordinate order in the heavenly Hierarchy. 1872A. de Vere Leg. St. Patr., Striving St. P., Down knelt in Heaven the Angelic Orders Nine.
6. Eccl.
a. A grade or rank in the Christian ministry, or in an ecclesiastical hierarchy.
The orders of the unreformed Western Church are those of bishop, priest, deacon, subdeacon, acolyte, exorcist, reader, and ostiarius or door-keeper, variously counted as eight or seven, according as bishop is or is not considered a distinct order from priest. Those of bishop, priest, deacon, and (since 13th c.) subdeacon, are the greater, sacred, or holy orders; the others are the minor orders. The Anglican Church recognizes only the three holy orders of bishop, priest, and deacon. In most branches of the Eastern Church the orders recognized are those of bishop, priest, deacon, subdeacon, and anagnost or reader, to which some add that of singer (ψαλτής). In the Roman Catholic Church, the orders of subdeacon, exorcist, and ostiarius were suppressed in 1972.
a1300Cursor M. 26151 (Cott.) For-qui þat kay es giuen to nan bot preist þat has þis order [Fairf. ordour] tan. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints viii. (Philepus) 90 Þane prestis & deknys þare mad he..al þe remaynyne to do, þat efferyte þare ordyr to. c1440Jacob's Well 162 Þe x. fote depthe is betwen a womman & a man of ordre. & þe heyere ordre, þe deppere synne. 1552Bk. Com. Prayer Ordering of Deacons, Diuerse orders of ministers in the churche. 1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1684) II. 86 And so orderly proceeding unto all the other Orders, degraded him from the Order of Benet and Collet, from the Order of Exorcist, from the Lectorship, and last of all, from the Office of Door-keeper. 1709Strype Ann. Ref. I. xi. 138 Divers having been made deacons, after long and good tryal..were admitted into priests orders. 1844Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) II. xii. 230 The clergy were divided into two classes, one of inferior clerks in minor orders, and employed as lectors, cantors, acolythists, exorcists, and doorkeepers; and the other of clerks in holy orders. 1845Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) II. 660 Holy orders, which are the orders of bishops (including archbishops), priests, and deacons.
b. The rank, status, or position of a clergyman or ordained minister of the Church. Now always pl., more fully holy orders. Hence the phrases to take orders, to enter the ministry of the Church, to be ordained; in orders, in the position of an ordained clergyman or minister of the Church; in deacon's orders, in priest's or full orders.
This has some affinities with sense 3 (see quot. 1597 from Hooker there). But the pl. form in holy orders, to be in orders, to take orders, etc. evidently refers to the different orders within the ministry, rather than to the ministerial or clerical order as a class or body of men.
sing.13..Cursor M. 27252 If he in hali order [Fairf. ordour] be. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋817 Folk that been entred in-to ordre as subdekne or preest or hospitaliers. Ibid. ⁋819 Sooth is that hooly ordre is chief of al the tresorie of god. 1426Audelay Poems 34 Here hole order when that thai toke, Thai were exampnyd apon a boke. 1580Hay Demandes Chr. Relig. §52 Quhy deny the ordoure to be ane Sacrament. 1620Bp. Hall Hon. Mar. Clergy i. xxi. Wks. (1625) 743 Continency is not of the substance of order, nor by Diuine Law annexed to it.
pl.13..Cursor M. 28365 In dedly sin i tok vnscriuen, myn orders sua war þai me giuen. 1592Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 25 b, Let him straight take orders, and bee a Churchman. 1666Pepys Diary 21 Feb., My brother John..is to go into orders this Lent. 1713Steele Englishm. No. 50. 326 Persons, even in Holy Orders,..have stood unconcerned. 1719Swift To a Young Clergyman, When they have taken a degree..they get into orders as soon as they can. 1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park I. ix, Yes, I shall take orders soon after my father's return. 1833H. Martineau Three Ages iii. 107 A master of arts, in full orders, is desirous of a curacy. Mod. The Pope has pronounced against the validity of Anglican orders.
c. The conferment of holy orders, the rite of ordination; in the Latin Church reckoned one of the seven sacraments.
Letters of Order(s (also ellipt. Orders), a certificate of ordination given by a bishop to a priest or deacon.
c1290Beket 335 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 116 Of is ordres he was ful streit: and he was in grete fere, For-to ordeinen ani an: bote he þe betere were. c1315Shoreham 7 Cristendom, and bisschoppynge, Penauns, and eke spousinge, Godes body ine forme of bred, Ordre, and aneliinge, Thes sevene Heth holi cherche sacremens. 1550Bale Eng. Votaries ii. O j, None were admytted to cure whych had not the letters of hys orders. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 24 Sacramentes of the Church,..the other foure, confirmation, order, Matrimony, and Unction. 1699Burnet 39 Art. xxv. (1700) 284 The third Sacrament rejected by this Article, is Orders. 1699Gov. Nicholson in Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Col. Ch. I. 66 Acquaint the minister or ministers..that they bring with them their priests and Deacons Orders. 1706Hearne Collect. 20 Mar. (O.H.S.) I. 206 A friend..has lost his letters of Order. 1780Cowper Progr. Err. 120 Go, cast your orders at your Bishop's feet. 1852Hook Ch. Dict. (1871) 444 Letters of orders are the bishop's certificate of having ordained a clergyman, either as priest or deacon. 1873E. E. Estcourt Question of Anglican Ordinations i. 4 Holy Order is a Sacrament, requiring a certain matter and form. 1875Manning Mission H. Ghost i. 17 In the sacrament of Orders there is given a grace, whereby a priest will always have a perpetual assistance for the discharge of his office. 1977Christian IV. 31 There are two priesthoods... One is conferred on all, in baptism; the other on some, in the sacrament of holy order. Ibid. 34 The sacrament of order is a direct participation in the mystery of Pentecost.
†d. Applied to matrimony, as a condition of life into which men enter, or as a sacrament. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 103 O blisful ordre of wedlok precious Thou art so murye and eek so vertuous.
7. A body or society of persons living by common consent under the same religious, moral, or social regulations and discipline; especially,
a. A monastic society or fraternity: as an order of monks or friars, the Benedictine order or Franciscan order. Sometimes applied to the rule or distinguishing constitution of such a fraternity, or to monasticism as an institution.
a1225Ancr. R. 8 Gif eni unweote acseð ou of hwat ordre ȝe beon..onswerieð & siggeð þet ȝe beoð of seint Iames ordre þet was Godes apostle. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 57/138 He þare bi-gan Þe ordre of frere Menours. c1305St. Dunstan 49 in E.E.P. (1862) 35 Þer was ordre of monekes er seint patrik com And er seint Austyn to Engelonde brouȝte cristendom. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 55, I font þere Freres, all þe Foure Ordres. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) x. 40 Chanouns of þe ordre of saynt Austyne. c1470Henry Wallace xi. 1241 A ȝong monk als with him in ordour stud. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 47 b, The order of Monkes is the invention of man. a1596in Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 148 It was the Friar of Orders gray. 1669Woodhead St. Teresa ii. i. 2 To follow the Call..from his Divine Majesty unto this Order. 1756Nugent Gr. Tour, France IV. 274 The famous abbey of La Trappe, of the Cistercian order. 1769Robertson Chas. V, vi. Wks. 1813 VI. 104 The Jesuits, as well as the other monastic orders, are indebted for the existence of their order, not to the wisdom of their founder, but to his enthusiasm. 1873Dixon Two Queens I. i. i. 8 The Friends of Light..were not an order, and still less a Church.
b. A fraternity or society of knights bound by a common rule of life, and having a combined military and monastic character; such as those formed in the Middle Ages for the defence or propagation of Christianity, or the defence of the Holy Land, e.g. the Knights Templars, Knights Hospitallers, Knights of the Teutonic Order, the legendary Knights of the Round Table, etc.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 465 Aboute þis tyme bygan þe ordre of Templeres. 1550Bale Eng. Votaries ii. 103 The hospytelers and Templars were two fygtinge orders, instituted firste in the countreye of Palestine..for the only defence of Christen pylgrymes goyng to and fro. 1568Grafton Chron. I. 106 That king Arthure first builded the Castle of Windsour, and there founded the order of the round Table. 1645Fuller Good Th. in Bad T. (1841) 43 Martin De Golin, master of the Teutonic order, was taken prisoner. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Malta, Knights of Malta, an order of military religious, who have bore various names; as..Knights of Rhodes, order of Malta, religion of Malta, etc. 1839Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XVIII. 670/1 Pope Celestine III..conferred on them the title of Knights of the Teutonic Order. Ibid. 670/2 The Teutonic order continued in Prussia until the year 1531. 1859Tennyson Guinevere 460 That fair Order of my Table Round, A glorious company, the flower of men.
8. An institution, partly imitated from the mediæval and crusading orders of military monks, but generally founded by a sovereign, or prince of high rank, for the purpose of rewarding meritorious service by the conferring of a dignity.
1429Rolls of Parlt. IV. 346/2 The honourable Ordre of the Gartier. 1508Dunbar Poems vii. heading, Lord Barnard Stewart, lord of Aubigny..consaloure..to..Loys, King of France, Knight of his ordour, Capitane of the kepyng of his body. 1530Palsgr. 236/2 Knight of the order of saynt Michaell. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 25 The maner is, that kynges with the swordes drawen, shall strike softely, the shoulders of them that desyre the ordre. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 68 Knight of the Noble Order of S. George, Worthy S. Michael, and the Golden Fleece. 1645E. Pagitt Heresiogr. (1647) 6 He..wore a great chaine like the Collar of some Order. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 121 He..painted the portraits of the knights of the Bath, on the revival of that order. 1813Wellington Let. to Sir Isaac Heard 9 June in Gurw. Desp. (1838) X. 429 Different titles and orders of Knighthood..conferred upon me by the Spanish and Portuguese governments. 1855Prescott Philip II, i. i. (1857) 5 The order of the Golden Fleece, of Burgundy; the proudest and most coveted, at that day, of all the military orders of knighthood.
b. Order of Merit; hence Order-of-Merited adj. (nonce).
1799Public Characters of 1799–1800 II. 164 The King of Poland..also conferred on him the honours of knighthood of the Order of Merit. 1842T. Campbell Frederick the Great II. xv. 71 If the order of the Black Eagle was conferred on any of the members of the order of Merit, he had to send back the latter to the king. 1880Disraeli Endym. II. xv. 150 Now you tell your master..that if he wants to strengthen the institutions of this country, the government should establish an order of merit. 1902Pall Mall Gaz. XXVIII. 71/1 The King's new Order of Merit would have attracted more attention if the list had appeared alone, and not at the tail of the honours bestowed at the Coronation. 1912G. W. E. Russell Afterthoughts xxxix. 325 An ‘Order of Merit’—as far as History goes, the Order of Merit—was founded by Frederick the Great in 1740; and the name was copied in turn by Hesse Cassel, Baden, Bavaria, Saxony, Oldenburg, Würtemberg, and Belgium. 1929A. Huxley Swift in Holy Face & Other Ess. 64 If Swift were alive to-day, he would be the adored..the Order-of-Merited author, not of Gulliver..but of A Kiss for Cinderella and Peter Pan. 1959Chambers's Encycl. X. 228/2 The Order of Merit (O.M.) was instituted in 1902 and is awarded to officers of the fighting services and civilians for conspicuous service. 1970C. L. Cline Lett. George Meredith I. p. xxix, In 1905 came official recognition: he became the twelfth member of the recently founded Order of Merit.
c. The badge or insignia of such a dignity.
1539Inv. Habiliments, etc. Jas. V. Scot. (1815) 49 Item the ordoure of the Empriour with the goldin fleis. 1673Lond. Gaz. No. 780/1 The Ceremony of investing the Prince Savelli..with the Order of the Golden Fleece. 1710Ibid. No. 4650/2 To whom he will carry the Order of the Black Eagle. 1753Hanway Trav. (1762) I. vi. lxxxii. 374 This lady wears the order of St. Andrew, which is a blue ribbon. 1818Keats Let. 14 Oct. (1958) I. 396 No sensation is created by Greatness but by the number of orders a Man has at his Button holes. 1874Helps Soc. Press. i. (1875) 3 A distinguished foreigner. Lots of orders on his coat; an Austrian, I think. a1885A. Gilchrist Century Guild Hobby Horse (1887) 15 He stands there in gloomy black doublet with the order of the golden fleece round his neck.
d. order of the boot: see boot n.3 1 c.
9. Arch. A system or assemblage of parts subject to certain uniform established proportions, regulated by the office which each part has to perform; esp. in Classical Arch. applied to modes of architectural treatment founded upon the proportions of columns and the kind of their capitals, with the relative proportions and amount of decoration used in their entablatures, etc.
These constitute the Five Orders of Classical Architecture, rising above each other in relative height, lightness, and decoration, viz. the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite; of which the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian are the original Greek orders, the Tuscan and Composite, Roman modifications or varieties.
1563Shute Archit. F j b, These three orders of pillers Dorica, Ionica, Corinthia, to be vsed as folowith. 1624Wotton Archit. in Reliq. (1651) 225 There are five Orders of Pillars, according to their dignity and perfection. 1697Potter Antiq. Greece i. viii. (1715) 31 The Chapters seem to be a mixture between that [the Ionick] and the Dorick Order. 1731Gentl. Mag. I. 123 A Colonade of 48 Corinthian Pillars supporting the upper part of the Building which is to be adorn'd with the like Number of Pilasters of the same Order. 1782Gilpin Wye (1789) 82 There are orders of architecture in mountains as well as in palaces. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 451 The Orders of Architecture constitute the basis upon which, chiefly, the decorative part of the science is built. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 2 Just as the last orders of Gothic architecture were the development of the first.
†b. A system of disposal of columns in or about a building in respect of their distance apart or ‘intercolumniation’. Obs.
1563Shute Archit. A j b, The placing of the fiue orders, namely, areostylos, diastylos, eustylos, sistylos, and picnostylos. Ibid. F j b, The fifth and last order is that which Vitruuius calleth Picnostylos.
10. a. Math. The degree of complexity of any analytical or geometrical form, equation, expression, operator, or the like, as denoted by an ordinal number (first, second, third,{ddd}, nth). Also in Comb. with preceding ordinal number.
The order of a plane curve corresponds to the degree of its equation, or to the number of points (real or imaginary) in which it can be cut by a straight line. a fluxion of the second order is a fluxion of a fluxion; an infinitesimal of the second order is one infinitely smaller than one of the first order, etc.; of the same order, said of two variables whose ratio tends to a finite number as they both tend to zero or to infinity; to the first (or second, etc.) order, neglecting quantities of higher order than the first (or second, etc.).
1706Ditton Fluxions 22 An Infinitesimal of another Order or Degree. Ibid. 123 These sorts of [Exponential] Quantities are of several Orders or Degrees. 1726E. Stone New Math. Dict. s.v., Order of Curve-Lines. Sir I. Newton..gives an Enumeration of Geometrical Lines of the third Order, as thus. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Curve, Algebraic Curves of the same kind or order, are those whose equations rise to the same dimension. 1743Emerson Fluxions 3 In any Fluxionary Equation, a Quantity of the first Order is that which has only one first Fluxion in it; a Quantity of the second Order has either one second Fluxion or two first Fluxions: Quantities of the third Order, are third Fluxions, product of three first Fluxions, product of a first and second Fluxion, etc. 1758Lyons Fluxions iv. §99 A line of the first order, or which is the same thing, the locus of a simple equation is always a right line. Ibid. §100 A line of the second order is always a conic section. 1820Babbage Functional Equations 4 To find periodic functions of the nth order, or to solve the equation ψ{pp}x = x. 1834M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xxxviii. (1849) 453 The curves in which the celestial bodies move by the force of gravitation are only lines of the second order. 1838Penny Cycl. XII. 472/2 A succession of infinitely small quantities, each of which is infinitely smaller than the preceding, is said to be a series of infinitesimals of different orders. Such a series is x, x2, x3, &c. 1843Scientific Mem. III. 172 It follows..that for an infinitely small ρ, α/ρ must itself be infinitely small; but the two values will be of the same order only if there is a finite radius of curvature. Ibid., If we assume α/ρ to be of the same order as ρu,..then α/(ρ1 + µ) represents a finite quantity varying continuously. 1880Encycl. Brit. XIII. 14/1 Two infinitesimals α, β are said to be of the same order if the fraction β/α tends to a finite limit. If β/αn tends to a finite limit, β is called an infinitesimal of the nth order in comparison with α. 1895E. B. Elliott Algebra of Quantics 1 The degree of a quantic in the variables x, y, z..is generally spoken of as its order. 1908G. H. Hardy Course Pure Math. v. 169 We shall say that ϕ(x) is of the kth order of greatness when x is small if ϕ(x)/x-k = xkϕ(x) tends to a limit different from zero as x tends to 0. 1922Phil. Mag. XLIII. 945 Both Sommerfeld and Epstein have obtained the value of W..by slightly different methods to the first order in F... We shall proceed to a second approximation. 1937E. C. Kemble Fund. Princ. Quantum Mech. xi. 384 In order to get the second-order corrections to Εk and Ψk we differentiate Eq. (47·2) twice with respect to λ and then set λ equal to zero. Ibid. 386 These second-order formulas are so complicated that they are seldom used and the corrections of the third and higher order [sic] are still more complex. 1952D. R. Hartree Numerical Anal. ix. 192 If a1 ≠ 0..the number of additional correct significant figures obtained from each repetition of such a process (or..the number of repetitions required to obtain each new correct significant figure) is the same, however many figures have been obtained. Such a process is called ‘first-order’. But if a1 = 0, a2 ≠ 0..the successive errors ξn are ultimately related by ξn + 1 = a2ξn2... The number of correct significant figures is approximately doubled for each repetition of the iterative process... Such a process is called ‘second-order’. 1962Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors vi. 110 This discussion shows that hrb and hob arise in such an indirect manner that they might almost be regarded as second-order effects. Their magnitudes confirm this impression. 1971Nature 19 Feb. 522/2 Talk of the eclipse being an unusual strain to the Earth is idle nonsense when eclipse type conditions prevail to first order twice every lunar month.
b. of the order of: (a) Math. (also of order), having a ratio to (the quantity specified) that tends in the limit to a finite number, or that is neither a large number nor a small fraction; (b) gen. (also in or on the order of), in the region of; somewhere about.
1903O. Lodge Mod. Views Matter 7 Their mass is of the order one-thousandth of the atomic mass of hydrogen. 1913Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1912 398 The change of weight..should have been of the order of 1 in 107 per 1°C. 1927N. V. Sidgwick Electronic Theory of Valency ii. 20 The accuracy of spectroscopic measurements (of the order of one in a million). 1937Michell & Belz Elem. Math. Analysis I. i. 94 A number is said to be of order 10n if its ratio to 10n is neither large nor small. Ibid., The function f(x) is said to be of the order of xn as x converges to zero, or to be of the nth order with respect to x, if the ratio f(x)/xn has two focal bounds of the same sign. Ibid. 95 The notation f(x) = O(xn) is sometimes used to express that the function f(x) is of the order of xn, that is, of the nth order, when x converges to zero. 1947R. L. Wakeman Chem. Commercial Plastics xxvi. 786 Concentrations of catalyst in the order of 1 per cent. 1955D. A. Quadling Math. Analysis xi. 178 We may write..{vb}E/hn{vb} {slle} K, where K is independent of h. In such a case we say that E is ‘of order hn’, or ‘of the nth order of small quantities’. 1958Times 10 Dec. 10/4 Their radioactivity was of the order of tens of millicuries. 1962F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics x. 422 Specific impulses on the order of 3000 lb-sec/lb are possible. 1963R. A. Rankin Introd. Math. Analysis vii. 455 The statement f(n) = O{ob}ϕ(n){cb} as n → ∞, or for large n, means that there exist real numbers K ≥ 0 and X ≥ X0, which are independent of n, and are such that {vb}f(n){vb} ≤ Kϕ(n) for all n > X... The statement..may be read as ‘f(n) is a quantity of the order of ϕ(n)’. 1970Daily Tel. 3 Dec. 21/1 (Advt.), A salary in the order of {pstlg}1,500 is envisaged. 1971Sci. Amer. June 24/1 Pulses lasting on the order of a nanosecond or longer can be reliably produced. 1975Nature 10 Apr. 478/1 The average flow through the gorge is of the order of 2,000–3,000 cubic metres per second.
c. order of magnitude: approximate number or magnitude in a scale in which equal steps correspond to a fixed multiplying factor (usu. taken as 10); a range between one power of 10 and the next; also, the order (order n. 10) of an infinitesimal or an infinite number. Also attrib. (with hyphens).
1875Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst. IV. 143 The number of surnames extinguished becomes a number of the same order of magnitude as the total number at first starting in N. 1891Phil. Mag. XXXII. 296 The electrochemical equivalent of gas atoms is of the same order of magnitude as that of the same atoms in electrolytes. 1903D. A. Murray First Course Infinitesimal Calculus iii. 31 When the limiting value of the ratio m/n is a finite number, m and n are said..to be of the same order of magnitude. Ibid. 32 Infinite numbers, being reciprocals of infinitesimals, also have different orders of magnitude. 1909J. P. Iddings Igneous Rocks I. vi. 193 The grains..are not all of the same order of magnitude, since one may be nine or ten times larger than another. 1937Michell & Belz Elem. Math. Analysis I. i. 94 Two numbers (or quantities) are of the same order of magnitude when their ratio is neither a large number nor a small fraction... It is often convenient to make a comparison of a number with a power of 10. 1941Courant & Robbins What is Math.? viii. 469 We shall say that bn tends to infinity faster than an, or has a higher order of magnitude than an, if the ratio an/bn (numerator and denominator of which both tend to infinity) tends to zero as n increases. 1968R. A. Lyttleton Mysteries Solar Syst. v. 157 The general size..would be expected to be of the order of the width of the stream. An order-of-magnitude estimate of this can be made in the following way. 1971I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth iv. 78/2 The dynamo theory seems natural and unforced, and order-of-magnitude arguments are encouraging. 1971Physics Bull. Oct. 586/1 The width of the second line of the hydrogen Balmer series, Hβ, is now considered to be a reliable measure of electron density to better than 10% over four orders of magnitude (say 1014–1018 cm-3). 1974Sci. Amer. June 27/1 These processes multiply the power per unit area by 14 orders of magnitude from 105 watts per square centimeter..to 1019 watts per square centimeter.
d. Math. (i) The number of elements in a group.
1878A. Cayley in Amer. Jrnl. Math. I. 51 A set of symbols α, β, γ..such that the product αβ of each two of them..is a symbol of the set, is a group... When the number of the symbols (or terms) is = n, then the group is of the nth order. 1941[see next sense]. 1965Patterson & Rutherford Elem. Abstr. Algebra ii. 36 The set of all permutations of 1, 2, 3,{ddd}, n forms a group with respect to multiplication... It is a finite group of order n! and it plays an important part in the theory of finite groups.
(ii) The smallest positive integer m for which gm is equal to the identity element of a group, g being any given element.
1897W. Burnside Theory of Groups of Finite Order ii. 14 Let S be an operation of a group of finite order N... If Sm + 1 is the first of the series [sc. S, S2, S3,{ddd}] which is the same as S,..then..Sm = 1... The integer m is called the order of the operation S. 1941Birkhoff & MacLane Survey Mod. Algebra vi. 147 Every element of a finite group G has as order a divisor of the order of G. 1968I. D. MacDonald Theory of Groups iii. 45 A periodic group is a group in which every element has finite order.
e. Each of the ranks or levels in a (non-mathematical) hierarchy in which every member save those in the lowest rank is a function of members of the next lower rank; spec. in Logic (see quot. 1908) and Psychol. (see quot. 1947). Freq. in Comb. with preceding ordinal number.
In Math. this sense is identical with 10.
1908B. Russell in Amer. Jrnl. Math. XXX. 238 A proposition containing no apparent variable we will call an elementary proposition... Elementary propositions together with such as contain only individuals as apparent variables we will call first-order propositions... We can thus form new propositions in which first-order propositions occur as apparent variables. These we will call second-order propositions... Thus, e.g., if Epimenides asserts ‘all first-order propositions affirmed by me are false’, he asserts a second-order proposition. Ibid., Propositions of order n..will be such as contain propositions of order n - 1, but of no higher order, as apparent variables. 1929A. W. Whitehead Process & Reality ii. ix. 285 We must provide a reason..why one ‘ground’ is selected rather than another... We are thus driven back to a second-order ‘ground’ of probability. 1936Mind XLV. 170 Necessary propositions are, thus, second-order propositions, which implicitly define ‘proposition’ by stating the properties of anything that is a proposition. 1941J. S. Huxley Uniqueness of Man xi. 245 Cells are first-order individuals, bodies second-order ones, and human societies (like hydroid colonies or beehives) third-order ones. 1947L. L. Thurstone Multiple-Factor Analysis xviii. 411 Factors that are obtained from the test correlations will be called first-order factors... Factors that are obtained from correlations of the first-order factors will be called second-order factors. 1954I. M. Cope Symbolic Logic 336 The hierarchy of orders prevents us from speaking about all functions or properties of a given type, permitting us to speak only about all first order functions of a given type, or all second order functions of a given type, etc. Ibid. 337 A proposition is of order n + 1 if it contains a quantifier on a propositional variable of order n but contains no quantifier on any propositional variable of order m where m ⩾ n. 1961J. B. Wilson Reason & Morals i. 4 Philosophers themselves are accustomed to speak of philosophical statements as being ‘second-order’ statements. 1971Sci. Amer. Aug. 98/1 All the axioms of a complete ordered field are first-order sentences except for the completion axiom.., which talks about a property of all subsets. 1977A. Hallam Planet Earth 75/3 In this system, fingertip tributaries are described as first-order; when two first-order streams combine the result is a second-order stream. Two second-orders give a third-order, and so on.
f. Chem. The sum of the exponents of the concentrations of reactants, or the exponent of any particular reactant, in the expression for the rate of a chemical reaction. Freq. in Comb. with preceding ordinal number.
1902H. C. Jones Elem. Physical Chem. ix. 465 Although there are only two substances, there are three molecules involved in the reaction, and we would expect it to be a reaction of the third order. 1933E. A. Moelwyn-Hughes Kinetics of Reactions in Solution vii. 219 Ionic reactions have occasionally been found to be of a higher kinetic order than is now regarded as possible. 1950W. J. Moore Physical Chem. xvii. 514 This is also a second-order reaction. It is said to be first-order with respect to C2H5Br, first-order with respect to (C2H5)3N, and second-order over-all. 1968R. O. C. Norman Princ. Org. Synthesis iii. 78 The decarbonylation of acetaldehyde is of non-integral order but contains both unimolecular and bimolecular steps.
g. Physics and Chem. An integer (usually 1 or 2) characterizing a change of phase of a substance, equal to the order of the lowest-order derivatives of the free energy that exhibit a discontinuity at the change. [After the similar use of G. ordnung introduced by P. Ehrenfest 1933 (see quot. 1933).]
1933Proc. Sect. Sci. Kon. Akad. Wetensch. Amsterdam XXXVI. 152 G may be a function of p and T which suffers along a λ-curve (Fig. 3) a discontinuity of the second order1, so that along that curve..ΔG = 0, whereas the differential coefficients of G make a jump. [1Note] Cf. P. Ehrenfest. Proceedings of this meeting. [i.e. Ibid. 153–7 (in Ger.)]. 1946Nature 28 Dec. 924/2 At low temperatures both crystalline and amorphous states [of rubber] give place to the glass-hard condition. The transition to the glassy state—the so-called second-order transition—is discussed. 1948Jrnl. Chem. Physics XVI. 665 (heading) Note on a relation between the order of a phase transition and discontinuities in the distribution functions of molecules. 1967A. H. Cottrell Introd. Metall. xiv. 220 First-order changes such as melting and polymorphic changes of crystal structure. 1968C. G. Kuper Introd. Theory Superconductivity ii. 23 The superconducting transition in the absence of a magnetic field is of second order (Ehrenfest 1933). In other words, the specific heat is discontinuous but there is no latent heat.
11. Nat. Hist. One of the higher groups in the classification of animals, vegetables, or minerals, forming a subdivision of a class, and itself subdivided into families, or into genera and species.
Natural Order (of plants), a group consisting of genera or families naturally allied in general structure, as opposed to an Order in an artificial system (such as the Sexual system of Linnæus), the members of which agree only in some single characteristic which may or may not be important.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. ii. i. (1765) 74 The first general Division of the whole Body of Vegetables is into twenty-four Classes; these are again subdivided into Orders, the Orders into Genera, the Genera into Species, and the species into Varieties, where there are any worthy of Note. 1803R. A. Salisbury in Trans. Linn. Soc. (1807) VIII. 7 All the Natural Orders which agree in that respect [perigynous insertion of the stamens] may be arranged in one continuous series. 1828Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. I. 32 Since the publication of the Régne Animal, Latreille and others have made a separate order of the Cheiroptera. 1830Lindley Introd. Nat. Syst. Bot. 1 heading, The Natural Orders of Plants. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. xiii. (1866) 488 All these genera descended from A form an order distinct from the genera descended from I. 1862Huxley Lect. Wrkng. Men 49 If you divide the Animal Kingdom into Orders you will find that there are above one hundred and twenty. 1897Willis Flowering Pl. I. 147 He will be able to classify..any new order that may be presented to him.
III. Sequence, disposition, arrangement, arranged or regulated condition.
12. a. Disposition of things in which one thing, or each of a number of things, duly succeeds another; sequence or succession in space or time; succession of acts or events; the mode in which this occurs, course or method of occurrence or action.
c1320Cast. Love 741 A trone..Seuene steppes þer beoþ þer-to, Þat so feire wt ordre i-tiȝed beoþ, Feiror þing in world no mon seoþ. 1382Wyclif Luke i. 8 Whanne Sacharie was set in presthod, in the ordre of his sort bifore God [1388 in the ordir of his cours to fore God]. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III, 25 b, In this ordre they passed throughe the palayce. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vi. 317 S. Margaret buir to King Malcolme..Edgar, Alexander and Dauid; quhilkes all conforme to thair ordour war kingis. 1605Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 119 Stand not vpon the order of your going, But go at once. 1613― Hen. VIII, iv. i. stage-direct., The Order of the Coronation. 1. A liuely Flourish of Trumpets. 2. Then, two Iudges. 3. Lord Chancellor, with Purse and Mace before him [etc.]. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 736 Of everie Beast, and Bird, and Insect small Came seavens, and pairs, and enterd in, as taught Thir order. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 316 Pageants on Pageants, in long order drawn. 1799Mackintosh Stud. Law Nature, etc. Wks. 1846 I. 354 His method is inconvenient and unscientific: he has inverted the natural order. 1833Cruse Eusebius iii. iv. 85 Now let us pursue the order of our history. 1846Mill Logic i. v. §6 Instead of Co-existence and Sequence, we shall sometimes say, for greater particularity, Order in Place, and Order in Time.
b. order of battle, the arrangement or disposition of sections of an army or naval force; now spec. the organization, movements, weaponry, etc., of an enemy force; the discovery of this; a tabular record of this. Also attrib.
1769[see battle n. 12]. 1797Encycl. Brit. III. 81/1 A Roman legion, ranged in order of battle, consisted of hastati, placed in the front; of principes, who were all old experienced soldiers, placed behind the former; and of triarii, heavy armed with large bucklers, behind the principes. 1889H. R. Gall Mod. Tactics ii. 11 A practical and experienced soldier, seeing his enemy get under arms and form up in order of battle, will rapidly gather a lot of valuable information regarding his numbers, artillery positions [etc.]. 1924W. C. Sweeney Military Intelligence viii. 172 Enemy Order of Battle. This section is charged with maintaining the battle order of the enemy located within the area of responsibility of the commander. 1928H. M. D. Parker Roman Legions ix. 251 Arrian, in his order of battle against the Alani, shows that the legions were drawn up as a phalanx eight deep. 1934Webster s.v., Order of battle.., a tabular compilation by unit showing organization, commanders, movements, etc. over an extended time. 1946Chandler & Robb Front-Line Intelligence xii. 137 O/B (Order of battle) is a military science whose mission is to determine: (1) How strong the enemy is. (2) How he is organized. (3) What kind of weapons he has. (4) Experience of his troops. (5) Leadership of his troops. (6) Where his units are located. 1948F. R. Cowell Cicero & Roman Republic ii. 36 The Greeks..were the first to invent an order of battle in which drilled man acting together as a unit..were able to overcome unorganised enemies many times more numerous. 1950Tactics & Techniques Infantry (U.S.) II. ii. 312 When a new enemy unit is identified, order of battle records will indicate its last known strength and special equipment such as tanks, armored cars, and artillery; its combat record; or any quirks of its commander. A new operation is contemplated; order of battle data will provide information as to the strength, equipment, location, mobility, and combat efficiency of the specific units the enemy can employ. Ibid. 313 Strategic order of battle deals with all enemy military units, regardless of location. 1966D. G. Chandler Campaigns of Napoleon (1967) 1099 Order of battle of the Army of Italy, April 12, 1796. 1971Combat Intelligence (U.S. Dept. of Army, Field Manual 30-5) vii. 7-1 In determining enemy capabilities and probable courses of action, commanders must consider order of battle intelligence together with other intelligence pertaining to the enemy, weather, and terrain. 1975T. Allbeury Special Collection ii. 11 There were daily situation reports from both the west and east fronts including Wehrmacht orders-of-battle. 1977S. Coulter Soyuz Affair v. 42 The spy..who brought you the cypher table or the enemy order of battle.
13. Formal disposition or array; regular, methodical, or harmonious arrangement in the position of the things contained in any space or area, or composing any group or body.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. iv. pr. vi. 105 (Camb. MS.) By the whiche disposicion the puruyance knytteth alle thinges in hir ordres. a1400–50Alexander 27 Þai..Of þe ordere of þat odde home þat ouer þe aire hingis Knew þe kynd. c1425Lydg. Assembly of Gods 250 A dew ordre in euery place ys expedyent. c1450Holland Howlat 578 Gif I sall schewe The order of thar armis. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lix. 205 Than paynyms on euery parte..ranne thether he that best myght, without kepynge of any good ordre. 1594Mirr. Policy (1599) 49 Order is the due disposing of al things. 1695Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iii. i. (1723) 165 A broken and confused Heap of Bodyes, placed in no Order to one another. 1712–14Pope Rape Lock iii. 168 When num'rous wax-lights in bright order blaze. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xvii. 315 The crevasses are..apparently without law or order in their distribution. 1875Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. i. (ed. 2) 22 The formation or disposition of a fleet is termed its Order.
b. In wider sense: The condition in which everything is in its proper place, and performs its proper functions.
1382Wyclif Job x. 22 The erthe of wrecchidnesse and of dercnessis; wher shadewe of deth, and noon order. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. cxxv, The strenth, the beautee, and the ordour digne Off his court riall, noble and benigne. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. Prol. 9 Heare the shrill Whistle, which doth order giue To sounds confus'd. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 713 Till at his second bidding darkness fled, Light shon, and order from disorder sprung. 1734Pope Ess. Man iv. 49 Order is Heav'n's first Law. 1882A. W. Ward Dickens iv. 90 His love of order made him always the most regular of men.
†c. Form, shape (as resulting from arrangement). Obs. rare.
1578Lyte Dodoens i. lxxxvii. 130 Nettell leaues..reduced to the order of a Pessarie..prouoketh the floures.
d. Equipment, uniform, etc., for some purpose, as drill order, field-day order, review order; marching order: see marching vbl. n. d. Also with ns. descriptive of appearance, as shirt-sleeve order. (Orig. and chiefly Mil.)
1852R. Burn Naval & Milit. Techn. Dict. French Lang. (ed. 2) ii. 176/2 Drill order, tenue d'exercise, petite tenue. 1874Queen's Regulations Army 1873 162 Review-order; to be worn when the Sovereign is present, for Royal escorts and guards of honour. Ibid. 163 Field-day-order; to be used generally for summer field-days, divisional and brigade drills,..[etc.]. Ibid., Drill-order; to be used at ordinary drills and in riding-schools. 1876Review order [see review n. 3]. 1968J. Lock Lady Policeman viii. 60 My serge skirt feels heavy, my feet feel hot and sticky. Still, we are lucky to have shirt-sleeve order—the PCs haven't and look as if they are about to expire. 1973R. Hill Ruling Passion ii. vii. 138 The warm weather..had returned..it would be shirt-sleeve order before the day was out. 1977‘D. MacNeil’ Wolf in Fold v. 49 Behind them, dressed in review order, marched the infantry of the British Army.
14. Disposition of measures for the accomplishment of a purpose; suitable action in view of some particular end; to take order, to take measures or steps, to make arrangements. Obs. or arch.
1546in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) II. ii. App. C. 20 Preying you al to take order, that every commissioner in that shire may have a double or copy of this lettre. 1557Order of the Hospitalls D vij, Bring them before a Court, that order may be taken therein. 1568Grafton Chron. I. 176 When the king had thus taken order with his affayres in Denmarke, he returned shortly into England. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 25 Let her haue needfull, but not lauish meanes, There shall be order for't. 1612L. Munck in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 115, I pray you therefore to take order to send it away with convenient speed. 1652Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 497 Certain orders made to make our Fishing prosperous, and successful. 1709Strype Ann. Ref. I. i. ix. 129 After they had taken order to meet there again by eight of the clock in the morning, they shifted them, and departed. 1827Southey Hist. Penins. War xxiv. II. 418 Even for this inevitable necessity no order having been taken by the Spanish authorities.
†15. Regular or customary mode of procedure; a method of action; a customary practice, an established usage. Obs.
1461Rolls of Parlt. V. 494 After the olde ordre of their accomptes. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 18 b, To make hym partener of his glory by a certeyn meane, and certeyn order. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 143 b, To se a reformacion in the ordre of the kynges housholde. 1575Serjt. Fleetwood in Ellis Original Lett. Ser. ii. III. 29 It is harde to cause a Northeren Tanner, or any other in his old daies, to lerne a newe order of Tanning. c1592Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. ii, He..sleeps in his own clothes,..'tis an order which the friars use. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxii. §8 It came afterward to be an order, that even as the day of Christs resurrection, so the other two, in memory of his death and buriall, were weekely. 1653Holcroft Procopius i. 26 Belisarius seeing the Enemies order with their Engins, fell into a laughing. a1715Burnet Own Time (1823) I. 401 The constant order of that matter was, to set all the pipes a-running on Saturday night, that so the cisterns might be all full by Sunday morning.
16. A method according to which things act or events take place; the fixed arrangement found in the existing constitution of things; a natural, moral, or spiritual system in which things proceed according to definite laws. Chiefly in such phrases as order of nature, order of things, order of the world, moral order, spiritual order, etc. (In quot. 1340–70, A particular instance of such method or arrangement, a law.)
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 327 Bi an ordre of oure kinde whan we holde waxen,..We schulle for-leten oure lif. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 5 No lesse confoundinge the order of thinges, than he whiche cloteth an ape in purple, and a king in sackecloth. 1558Knox First Blast (Arb.) 11 God by the order of his creation hath spoiled woman of authoritie and dominion. Ibid. 26, I haue proued..by the ordre of Goddes creation..that [etc.]. 1604E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xii. 158 Agreeing with the wisdom of the Creator, and the goodly order of nature. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 157 Objects..Which out of nature's common order rise. 1785Paley Mor. Philos. Wks. 1825 IV. 13 The laws of custom are very apt to be mistaken for the order of nature. 1842Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 240 The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And God fulfils Himself in many ways. 1853Carpenter Princ. Hum. Phys. (ed. 4) 814 The belief in the stability of the order of nature, or in the invariable sequence of similar effects to similar causes. 1855Prescott Philip II, ii. ix. (1857) 312 A craving, impatient spirit, which naturally made them prefer any change to the existing order of things. 1865R. W. Dale Jew. Temple xix. (1877) 219 Christ's death is the foundation of new spiritual order. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 3 More than two generations of men had almost ceased to care whether there be any moral order or not. 1875Maine Hist. Inst. ii. 28 The Druids, whom the Brehon lawyers regarded as having belonged altogether to the old order of the world. 1878Stewart & Tait Unseen Univ. i. §42. 60 The existence of an invisible order of things.
17. Eccl. In liturgics, A stated form of divine service, or administration of a rite or ceremony, prescribed by ecclesiastical authority; also the service so prescribed.
c1400Apol. Loll. 68 Þis haue we seid schortly of þe wordre of lowsing, þat schepherdis of þe kirk ow to bind & lowse vnder gret moderacoun. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer 1 An ordre for Mattyns dayly through the yere. 1563Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. Wks. 1888 I. 72 The doctrine and ordour laitlie set furth at Geneua. 1662Bk. Com. Prayer, The Order of Confirmation. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) I. vi. 298 He had already..enjoined the bishops to proceed against all their clergy who did not observe the prescribed order. 1872E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 209 The service for consecrating a Northumbrian sovereign..is the oldest ‘Order’ on record.
18. spec. (from 15.) The prescribed or customary mode of proceeding in debates or discussions, or in the conduct of deliberative or legislative bodies, public meetings, etc., or conformity with the same; as order of business, to rise to a point of order, the speaker or motion is not in order, or is out of order. See also order of the day, in 25.
a1751in Camden Miscellany (1969) XXIII. 170 His vanity will make him constantly puzzling our Speaker and our Chairmen of Committees, in points of order, which in reality he will know better than they. 1781Parl. Reg. 27 Nov. 46 After some debate on the point of order, respecting the right of reply, claimed by those who had made a motion. 1782Gentl. Mag. LII. 622 Here the House was all in a roar, to order! to order! On which Mr. Speaker rose. 1812Parl. Deb. in Examiner 4 May 280/1 Here Gen. Manners called Sir Francis to order. 1817Parl. Deb. 1849 Mr. Brougham spoke to order, and submitted, that these were expressions which were not consistent with the decorum and dignity of their proceedings. 1837Dickens Pickw. i. 1849in Ht. Martineau Hist. Peace i. v. 51 A breach of order by some individual of warm temperament. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. iii. lxix. 545 Business begins by the ‘calling of the convention to order’ by the chairman of the National Party committee. 1898Daily News 25 Mar. 2/3, I wish to ask you whether your privilege as Speaker is not limited to excluding questions which transgress order.
19. (= civil or public order.) The condition in which the laws or usages regulating the public relations of individuals to the community, and the public conduct of members or sections of the community to each other, are maintained and observed; the rule of law or constituted authority; law-abiding state; absence of insurrection, riot, turbulence, unruliness, or crimes of violence.
1483Rolls of Parlt. VI. 240/2 The ordre of all poletique Rule was perverted, the Lawes..broken, subverted and contempned. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxvi. 30 Gude rewle is banist our the Bordour, And rangat ringis but ony ordour. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 251 People without order or civilitie. 1558Knox First Blast (Arb.) 11 The subuersion of all good order, of all equitie and iustice. 1683Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 76 Constables should go to publick houses to see good Ordrs kept. 1712Steele Spect. No. 270 ⁋1 Order is the Support of Society. 1784Cowper Task ii. 785 He graced a college, in which order yet Was sacred. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 47 Peace and order were maintained by police regulations of German minuteness and strictness. Mod. These riotous proceedings were at length suppressed and order restored.
20. a. State or condition generally (qualified as good, bad, etc.); normal, healthy, or efficient condition (in phrases in order, out of order: see 27 b, 30).
1568Grafton Chron. I. 133 This schoole..newely repayred, and set it in much better order than before it had bene. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 402 All things in best order to invite Noontide repast, or Afternoon's repose. 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 1 The Ships were all in prime Order, all lately rebuilt. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 153 Land may be said to be in good order, when it is clean of weeds [etc.]. 1836Backwoods of Canada 162 The ducks are in the finest order during the early part of the summer. 1885Sir W. R. Grove in Law Rep. 15 Queen's Bench Div. 320 To see that the machinery of the truck is apparently in good order. Mod. The land is in bad order.
humorously.1809Malkin Gil Blas iii. iv. ⁋9 We..drank as we liked, so that the servants'-hall and the dining-room were in equally high order when we took our leave. 1829Scott Jrnl. 17 July (1890) II. 319 Her husband, being in good order [i.e. drunk] also, did not miss her till he came to Prestonpans.
b. spec. of tobacco. Cf. case n.1 5 b.
1897M. Whitney in U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 60. 4 ‘Order’ or ‘case’ in tobacco curing means a mint condition in which the tissue will not break. 1966Pubn. Amer. Dial. Soc. xlv. 18 The tobacco has to be in order before it can be properly stripped.
21. Mil. The position in which a rifle is held as a result of the command to ‘order arms’: see order v. 1 b.
1847Infantry Man. (1854) 40 b, A company..can load from the order with the same ease as from the shoulder. 1879Martini-Henry Rifle Exerc. 6 When the rifle has been placed at the Order, the recruit will be instructed always to fall in with it in that position. 1938J. Cary Castle Corner 435 The sentry threw his gun to the order and shouted in one word, ‘alt-oo-go dar. Pass, friend’.
IV. The action or an act of ordering; regulation, direction, mandate.
†22. The action of putting or keeping in order; regulation, ordering, control. Obs.
a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 239 The French kyng, which then claymed to have the order and mariage of the yonge lady, as a pupille, ward and orphane. Ibid., Hen. VIII, 240 b, The Graunde Master Hostoden, which had the conduyte and ordre of the performaunce of her maryage. c1550Cheke Matt. xxiv. 47 Truli J sai unto iou, he wil give him y⊇ order of all yt he hath. 1627Bp. Hall Heaven vpon Earth vii. Wks. 80 If excesse of passions be naturall to vs as men, the order of them is naturall to us as Christians. 1690Norris Beatitudes (1694) I. 2 To give Laws and Precepts for the Instruction and Order of his Disciples.
23. a. An authoritative direction, injunction, mandate; a command, oral or written; an instruction. Cf. under starter's orders s.v. starter. Esp. in phr. under orders.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 94 The Ambassador was commaunded to kepe his house in silence,..which ordre sore abashed the Frenche. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 118–9 Tail... Grumio gaue order how it should be done. Gru. I gaue him no order, I gaue him the stuffe. 1646Bp. Maxwell Burd. Issach. in Phenix (1708) II. 291 The Scotish Pope's Sermon, preach'd at Westminster, and printed by Order of the House. 1648Hamilton Papers (Camden) 242 Commanded to obey the orders of the Committee of Estats. 1725Pope Odyss. iii. 414 Thy ship and sailors but for orders stay. 1799Wellington Let. to Lieut-Gen. Harris in Gurw. Desp. (1837) I. 30, I have not heard anything of the 12 pounders ordered to a new situation by the general orders of yesterday. 1835Dickens Let. c 29 Dec. (1965) I. 113, I regret to say that my being under orders from The Chronicle will prevent my enjoying the pleasure of seeing you tomorrow. 1859Tennyson Enid 152 Then the good king gave order to let blow His horns for hunting. 1884Times (weekly ed.) 31 Oct. 15/1 The Agamemnon was under orders to strengthen the China fleet. 1969H. R. F. Keating Inspector Ghote plays Joker iii. 55 This authoritative figure took the microphone..and made an announcement that the horses were under orders. 1977A. C. H. Smith Jericho Gun iv. 52 The PA commentary told him when they were under orders, and off.
b. Order in Council: an order issued by the British sovereign († or the governor of a British colony) on the advice of his or her privy council; also, an order issued by a government department under powers bestowed by Act of Parliament.
[1674–5(title) His Majesties Declaration for enforcing a late Order made in Council.] 1746in New Jersey Archives (1882) 1st Ser. VI. 369 An Embargo on all Vessels in this Province for the Space of one Month unless his [sc. the president's] Order in Council shall be first Obtained for the Sailing of any Vessel. 1785[see council n. 6 a]. 1809Ann. Reg. 1807 xii. 227/2 English commerce..was not only greatly cramped, but lay prostrated on the ground, and motionless, before a protecting and self-defensive system was interposed by our orders in council. 1867A. Todd On Parl. Govt. in Eng. I. v. 287 The crown has no right, by a mere Order in Council,..to sanction a departure from the requirements of an existing law. 1892W. R. Anson Law & Custom of Constitution II. i. 47 An Order in Council is practically a resolution passed by the Queen in Council, communicated by publication or otherwise to those whom it may concern. 1911Encycl. Brit. XX. 187/2 At the present day orders in council are extensively used by the various administrative departments of the government, who act on the strength of powers conferred upon them by some act of parliament. 1928A. Fitzroy Hist. Privy Council iv. 85 The Orders in Council in reply to Napoleon's Milan and Berlin decrees. 1961Halsbury's Laws Eng. (ed. 3) XXXVI. 477 Proclamations and Orders in Council are instruments made by the Crown, the latter, by which the great majority of powers conferred on the Crown are required to be exercised, being orders expressed to be made by and with the advice of the Privy Council. 1964Mod. Law Rev. XXVIII. iii. 335 His Majesty could by Order in Council provide..that the registers of a particular country..should be deemed to be ‘a public register’. 1973Trinidad & Tobago Overseas Express 28 May 4/2 If the initiative came from Britain then the Order-in-Council method would be applied. 1977Gay News 24 Mar. 1/3 Mr. Mason is expected to draw up an Order in Council.
c. doctor's orders: instructions from one's physician; fig., any injunctions which cannot be evaded.
1841Dickens Let. 18 Jan. (1969) II. 189, I have been obliged to make up my mind—on the doctor's orders—to stay at home this evening. 1886H. Munby Let. 12 Mar. in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 410 Oh the miserable & false step you took when you separated me from you, by the doctor's orders. 1932A. Christie Peril at End House ix. 104 No one..will be admitted... ‘Doctor's orders,’ they will be told. A phrase very convenient and one not to be gainsayed. 1940W. Faulkner Hamlet 73 He returned to the gallery offering his candy about. ‘Doctor's orders,’ he said. ‘He'll probably send me another bill now for ten cents for advising me to eat a nickel's worth of candy.’ 1970Guardian 26 Nov. 3/4 The absence of East German leader, Herr Ulbricht, whose official explanation of ‘doctor's orders’ failed to convince a Communist journalist. 1976Sci. Amer. Mar. 127/2 ‘Doctor's orders’ excuse almost any behaviour, yet they are mere advice.
d. Phr. orders are (also vulg. or joc. is) orders: commands must be obeyed.
1852H. Melville Pierre xvi. ii. 323, I am sorry, sir, but orders are orders:..I can't disobey him. 1933‘Hay’ & ‘Armstrong’ (title of play) Orders are orders. 1939A. Ransome Secret Water i. 18 I'm awfully sorry, you people. It just can't be helped. Orders is orders. 1973Times 2 June 12/3 The delicious ridiculousness of the telegram perhaps has to be explained... But orders were orders.
e. Computers. = instruction 4 c, command n. 1 d; esp. one in machine language or another low-level language.
1946Goldstine & Von Neumann in J. Von Neumann Coll. Wks. (1961) V. 26 In performing a multiplication one usually performs about 3 or 4 associated additions or subtractions or comparisons; hence at least 4–5 orders must be given and at least that many numbers transferred—it is assumed that an order specifies only one basic operation, together with its transfers. Ibid., We agree to store our orders in the same place as our numbers. 1948[see input n. 2 d]. 1958[see instruction 4 c]. 1967Klerer & Korn Digital Computer User's Handbk. i. i. 10 Machine-language coding uses the machine order code, which is directly interpreted by the instruction register. 1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing vi. 98 The detailed information sent to the input/output units from the local control units can be called orders.
24. spec.
a. Law. A decision of a court or judge, made or entered in writing; in the Supreme Court, a direction of the court or a judge other than a final judgement.
a1726Gilbert Cas. Law & Eq. 137 Two Justices made an Order, that upon Sight thereof the Overseers should [etc.]. 1845McCulloch Taxation ii. vi. (1852) 264 Property sold by order of the Courts of Chancery and Exchequer. 1846― Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 651 Relief..treated as a loan..may be recovered, under an order of justices, by attachment of the party's wages in his master's hands. 1883Law Rep. 11 Queen's Bench Div. 591 An order nisi was afterwards obtained for a new trial, on the ground of misdirection. 1884Sir H. Cotton in Law Rep. 12 Q.B.D. 345 The Orders under the Judicature Act provide that every order may be enforced in the same manner as a judgment, but still judgments and orders are kept entirely distinct. Mod. Newspr. A committal order was refused, but, by consent, a new order to pay 2s. a month was made.
b. Banking and Commerce. A written direction to pay money or deliver property, given by a person legally entitled to dispose thereof; a postal order.
1673Ld. Shaftesbury Parl. Speech in Coll. Poems 238 He saw..the difference through all His Business between Ready Money and Orders. 1682J. Scarlett Exchanges 53 Its unadvisedly done for a Drawer..to make his Bills payable to order. 1709Steele Tatler No. 60 ⁋2 Pray pay to Mr. Tho. Wildair, or Order, the Sum of One Thousand Pounds, and place it to the Account of Yours, Humphrey Wildair. 1846Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 366, I will send a Post-Office order, in repayment. 1866Crump Banking iv. 90 By the Act of 1853 the drawer is allowed to make a stamped cheque payable to ‘order’. 1883Ld. Blackburn in Law Times Rep. (1884) XLIX. 687/1 The bills of lading also were made out in the name of D. and Co., deliverable to their order. 1891Yeats Let. Dec. (1954) 186, I had intended to return the {pstlg}1 at once... Some days passed by..the order which I enclose being all the time on my table awaiting posting. 1913W. Owen Let. 16 Dec. (1967) 221, I have cashed the Order long ago.
c. Business. A direction to make, provide, or furnish anything, at the responsibility of the person ordering; a commission to make purchases, supply goods, etc. a large order (slang), a large requirement, demand, request, proposal, etc. Also, a big order, a strong order; a tall order: see tall a. 8 d.
1837Longfellow in Life (1891) I. 262 He writes the piece to order, for Miss Clifton, who gives him a thousand dollars. 1845Disraeli Sybil iii. vii, ‘If it's an order, let us have it at once.’ ‘It is not an order’, said Morley. 1855Bagehot Lit. Stud. I. 29 Poets indeed are not made ‘to order’. 1879H. George Progr. & Pov. v. i. (1881) 242 Manufacturers find their orders falling off. 1880Trollope Duke's Children I. xxiv. 284 In her opinion it would be best that the Duke should..give them money enough to live upon. ‘Is not that a strong order?’ asked the Earl. 1884Pall Mall G. 24 July 5/1 That is, to employ an agreeable piece of slang, a very large order. 1892W. S. Gilbert Mountebanks 1, Exchange all the beautiful things I've got inside?.. It's a large order. a1903Mod. ‘Boots and shoes ready made, or to order.’ 1907G. B. Shaw Major Barbara i. 210 Barbara. Yes. Give us Onward, Christian Soldiers. Lomax. Well, thats rather a strong order to begin with, dont you know. 1919V. Woolf Night & Day xxiv. 340 Well, Greek may be rather a large order. I was thinking chiefly of English. 1923H. G. Wells Men like Gods ii. ii. 174 ‘You mean to jump this entire Utopian planet?’ said Mr. Hunter. ‘Big order,’ said Lord Barralonga. 1927Sunday Times 6 Mar. 23/3 There is no technical necessity now for the spark system, but it would be a rather big order to ask that all ships should abolish it. 1958‘A. Bridge’ Portuguese Escape viii. 125 This is quite a large order, isn't it? Suppose you tell me a bit more.
d. A pass for admission, without payment or at a reduced price, to a theatre or other place of entertainment, or to any place which is not unrestrictedly open to the public, as a museum, library, park, private establishment, etc.
1763Johnson in Boswell 16 May, He has refused me an order for the play for Miss Williams, because he knows the house will be full. 1779Sheridan Critic i. i, On the first night of a new piece they always fill the house with orders to support it. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. ii, And about the box-office in the season,..when they give away the orders. 1855London as it is to-day 134 During the session of Parliament, admission to hear the debates may be obtained by an order from a member. Ibid. 243 Museum of the Royal Institution. Admission by member's order. 1899Whitaker's Alm. 378/1 Mansion House..Admission by order and a small fee. Ibid. 379/2 The Times and the Daily Telegraph Printing Offices... By special orders only. Ibid. 379/1 Woolwich..Royal Arsenal..admission..by order obtained at War Office.
e. colloq. A request for refreshments or food, e.g. in a restaurant or public house; a portion or helping of a dish or article of food or drink served in a restaurant, snack-bar, etc.
1836Dickens in Bell's Life in London 17 Jan. 1/1 ‘Pray give me your orders gen'lm'n—pray give me your orders’..and demands for ‘goes’ of gin, and ‘goes’ of brandy, and pints of stout, and cigars of peculiar mildness, are vociferously made. c1863T. Taylor in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1969) II. 90 Now then James! Jackson, take orders. Interval of ten minutes allowed for refreshment. Give your orders, gents. 1898A. Bennett Man from North v. 29 A waitress, who approached and listened condescendingly to his order. 1904‘O. Henry’ in N.Y. World Mag. 27 Mar. 10/4 And all this while she [sc. the waitress] would be performing astounding feats with orders of pork and beans, pot roasts, [etc.]. 1905― in N.Y. World 16 July (Oregon Fair Suppl.) 3/2 The screaming of ‘short orders’..and all the horrid tumult of feeding man. 1934G. B. Shaw Village Wooing 120 Z... Will you take a string bag? A. Yes. Z. Thanks very much. Shall I put the rest of the order into it? A. Of course. What else do you suppose I am buying it for? 1934Punch 8 Aug. 158/3 The publican wanted to call on his clients with orders. ‘What orders?’.. ‘Beer.’ 1949Crisis (N.Y.) Nov. 305/2 They looked like the best tasting flapjacks in the world. They went inside and had an order. 1963V. Nabokov Gift v. 302 One could already hear the energetic ‘psst, psst’ of Shahmatov, who had been served the wrong order. 1973J. Shub Moscow by Nightmare xiv. 165 Two orders of stuffed vine leaves, please. 1978K. O'Hara Ghost of T. Penry xiii. 112 The pub sign was swinging furiously in the wind..inside..they were taking last orders.
f. order to view: a requisition from a house or estate agent to an occupier to allow a client to inspect his premises.
1911W. J. Locke Glory of Clementina Wing xxiii. 337 A caretaker took the order-to-view given by the estate agents and conducted the party over the place. 1922E. H. Young Bridge Dividing iii. xi. 301 It's to let. I've got an order to view. 1940L. MacNeice (title of poem) Order to view. 1967C. Drummond Death at Furlong Post iv. 36 Vacant these fourteen years... There have been many orders to view. 1971M. Tripp Five Minutes with Stranger ii. v. 125 I'll call in personally tomorrow and get an order to view.
V. Phrases and Combinations. See also 10, 23, 24, etc.
25. order of the day.
a. In a legislative body, the business set down for debate on a particular day (= F. l'ordre du jour).
b. Specific commands or notices issued by the commanding officer to the troops under his command.
c. colloq. The prevailing rule or custom of the time.
1698House of Commons Jrnl. 8 Apr. (1742–62) XII. 198/2 The House, according to the Order of the Day, resolved itself into a Committtee of the whole House to consider further of Ways and Means for raising the Supply granted to his Majesty. 1729E. Knatchbull Parliamentary Diary (1963) 95 The orders of the day were moved for and so this day's debate ended. 1779Parl. Reg. 5 May 401 The order of the day was read for the House to resolve itself into a committee of supply. 1792A. Young Trav. France 551 note, Writers who wish to spread the taste of revolutions, and make them every where the order of the day. 1795Washington in Sparks Life & Writ. Gouv. Morris (1832) III. 66 Peace has been (to borrow a modern phrase) the order of the day. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxvi. 87 Industry was the order of the day. 1842Brande Dict. Sci. etc. 895/2 The motion for reading the order of the day has equally [with a motion to adjourn] the effect of superseding the existing question. 1863Cox Inst. Eng. Gov. i. ix. 137 Orders of the day..relate to business for which by orders of the House particular days are appointed. 1897Pall Mall Mag. Dec. 583 November's dark hours and gloomy fogs were once more the order of the day. 1959Times 19 Sept. 7/7 The restorers are at work: anastylosis is the order of the day. 1976Abingdon Herald 9 Dec. 5/2 The removal of ice from the moving parts and sheets was the order of the day. The light air and bright cold conditions required a high degree of concentration.
26. by order.
†a. = in order: see 27. Obs.
13..Coer de L. 2961 Be order they comen in her maneres. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 352 He is dettour to eche man but bi ordre. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2514 Phyllis, But al hire lettere wryte I ne may By ordere. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xxvi. 199 All these notable Earthquakes..have succeeded one an other by order. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. Exhort. §11 What he abated by the order to his intendment and design. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 24/1 Every Citizen according to his age, should..by and in order declare his judgement.
b. By authoritative direction or command; see 23 and 24.
27. in order.
a. In proper sequence or succession, according to rank, importance, seniority, size, position, date, affinity, etc.
c1400Destr. Troy 9797 All þai toldyn hym tale,..Of þaire answare, in ordur. c1500How Plowman lerned Paternoster 113 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 213 In ordre folowed them other thre. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III 29 After whome marched in order quene Anne his wife likewyse crouned. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 507 Forth In order came the grand infernal Peers. 1791Cowper Retired Cat 94 The lowest first, and without stop The rest in order to the top. 1871R. Ellis Catullus xxxvii. 2 Ninth post in order next beyond the twins cap-crown'd. Mod. Are the letters in order?
b. In a condition in which the elements or constituents are properly disposed with reference to each other, or to their purpose; in proper condition; in obedience to constituted authority or usage.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 349 Þe fendes of helle trowen alle þat we trowen, but hem failen charite to bynde her schelde in order. 1526Tindale 1 Cor. xi. 34 Wother thynges will I set in order when I come. 1535Coverdale 2 Kings xx. 1. 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. II. 213 Havinge set all thinges in order for that voyage. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 672 Thus useful arms in magazines we place, All rang'd in order, and dispos'd with grace. 1772Test Filial Duty II. 219 Their house is putting in order. 1878E. Jenkins Haverholme 28 Why should we spend a hundred thousand men and millions of money in setting that part of the world in order? 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 525 One of the chief duties of these societies is to keep the women in order.
c. Appropriate to or befitting the occasion; suitable; called for; also, in fashion, current, correct. orig. U.S.
a1861T. Winthrop John Brent (1862) viii. 85 If the gent has made a remark what teches you, apologies is in order. 1878J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xxv. 399 One week sufficed to conclude my business in Oregon, but before leaving a few general notes are in order. 1903N.Y. Times 4 Sept. 2/3 Good byes were in order on the Erin last night. 1931G. T. Clark Leland Stanford xiv. 457 It was quite in order..that when this bill was before the Senate, he should express himself upon it. 1973‘M. Innes’ Appleby's Answer xv. 128 A confidential and man-to-man note will be in order. 1977N. Marsh Last Ditch vi. 151 Is it in order for us to ring up your father and ask him to dine?
d. in (or at, on) short (or quick) order: without delay, immediately, summarily. orig. U.S.
1834W. G. Simms Guy Rivers I. 204 Be off now in a hurry, or I shall fire upon you in short order. a1852F. M. Whitcher Widow Bedott Papers (1856) xxv. 307 If ever you dew it agin you'll git your walkin'-ticket on short order. 1892Outing Apr. 19/1, I was so thoroughly comfortable that I went to sleep in short order. a1916H. James Ivory Tower (1917) iii. iv. 198 Your solution, is marriage to a wife at short order. 1932N. Hodgins Some Canad. Ess. 202 We had made a sailor of him in short order. 1973E. Berckman Victorian Album 180 The woman checked... This doesn't mean she failed to tally, because she did in short order—and all the more savagely. 1976Publishers Weekly 24 May 58/3 Linda descends on twenties London to become, in short order, a model, the toast of lords [etc.].
28. in order to.
†a. In regard or respect to, in reference to; for the sake of. Obs.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 6 The rychesse of y⊇ worlde hath no goodnes, but in order to man. 1646H. Lawrence Comm. Angells 56 Wee come to their punishment, which..is necessary for us to know, in order to this subject. 1656Jeanes Fuln. Christ 393 That which Paul speaketh of himselfe, and Timothy, in reference unto the Corinthians, 2 Cor. 6. 11 is applicable unto Christ in order unto all Christians. 1669R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 427, I gave..an account in my last of what I had done in order to his Majesty's commands.
b. (a) With a view to the bringing about of (something), for the purpose of (some prospective end).
1655Clarke Papers (Camden) III. 33 Col. Jones and Col. Penruddock are sent downe into the west in order to theire tryall. 1672Evelyn Diary 1 Sept., After this I returned home, in order to another excursion to the sea side. 1711Spotswood in Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Col. Ch. I. 188 To meet me next week on our frontiers in order to a treaty. 1773Burke Corr. (1844) I. 428 A meeting ought..to be called..in order to a regular opposition in parliament. 1837H. Martineau Soc. Amer. II. 229 In order to shoemaking, there must be tanning. 1869Goulburn Purs. Holiness viii. 67 In order to the existence of love between two parties, there must be a secret affinity between them.
(b) with inf. object.
1711Steele Spect. No. 48 ⁋2, I shall next Week come down..in order to take my Seat at the Board. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 336 They then incur every danger, in order to rescue their young. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 584 Lord Mansfield rightly said, it was not necessary to show actual force, in order to prove an ouster. 1868Chambers' Encycl. III. 142/1 In order to support the roof..a second row of columns was introduced.
†c. Formerly also in order for: = b. Obs.
1746Eliza Heywood Female Spect. No. 24 (1748) IV. 281 The various stratagems to which she was obliged to have recourse, in order for this discovery. 1749Fielding Tom Jones viii. xi, There was scarce a Wickedness which I did not meditate, in order for my Relief.
29. in order that: With the aim or purpose that, to the end that.
1711Addison Spect. No. 62 ⁋2 In order..that the Resemblance in the Ideas be Wit [etc.]. 1832H. Martineau Hill & Valley viii. 126 In order that you may see that we cannot help doing so. 1875Jowett Plato I. 123, I have come to you now, in order that you may speak to him.
30. out of order: Not in proper sequence, orderly arrangement, or settled condition; in disorder or derangement; unsettled; not in proper or normal condition of action, mind, bodily health, etc. Now freq. of mechanical and electrical devices. (In the sense ‘indisposed’ very common in 18th c.) Also (sometimes hyphenated) attrib.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 70 The kyng beyng infourmed, that his realme of Irelande was out of ordre. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 31 Ky, nocht tame..bot lyke wylde hartes, wandiring out of ordour. 1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 771 The patient is much disquieted, vexed, and too much out of order. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 3 If out of order, they [the Scriptures] will reforme vs. 1661Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 113 To mend a watch, that's out of order. 1666Pepys Diary 6 Aug., Find my wife mightily out of order, and reproaching of Mrs. Pierce and Knipp as wenches. 1722Lond. Gaz. No. 6098/1 His..Majesty being out of Order, by reason of a Cold. 1772Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 4 Nov., Since I came to Ashbourne I have been out of order. I was well at Litchfield. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. iv. (1866) 145 A high organisation would be..more liable to be put out of order and thus injured. 1882Daily Tel. 28 Oct. 2/4 Waters in Sheffield district still out of order, and angling at a standstill. 1926E. O'Neill Great God Brown iii. i. 70, I forgot to tell him something important this morning and our phone's out of order. 1928D. L. Sayers Unpleasantness at Bellona Club xii. 141 The telephone cabinet..was so annoyingly labelled ‘Out of Order’. 1950T. Walsh Nightmare in Manhattan iii. 82 A phone booth behind the news-stand—it has an out-of-order sign on it. 1971R. Thomas Backup Men xxii. 190 The two elevators wore out of order signs. 1977A. Scholefield Venom iv. 172 She had also telephoned the house..and had received an out-of-order tone.
31. attrib. and Comb., as order-maker, order system; order-making vbl. n. and adj.; order–disorder, order-loving adjs.; order clerk, a clerk who enters business orders; order form, a partially blank form to be filled up in giving a business order; order man, orderman, a man who takes or makes out orders; order mark (see quot. 1963); order pad, a pad (pad n.3 4) of order forms; order-paper, (a) a paper on which questions, etc., coming in the order of the day, in a legislative assembly, are entered; (b) in the House of Lords, a publication of questions, etc., for the remainder of the session; order wire Teleph., a wire used to communicate verbal information about the setting up of a connection for a customer, or between operators at different manual exchanges, or between a customer and an operator in establishing a data link; order-word (F. mot d'ordre), the military pass-word of the day, a watchword.
1938Nature 9 Apr. 643/1 Fröhlich has tried to interpret the λ-phenomenon of liquid helium as an order-disorder transition. 1964Discovery Oct. 65/2 The theory of order-disorder transformations in alloys.
1894Country Gentlemen's Catal. 3 We hope..that subscribers..will use our Enquiry and Order Forms. 1929Radio Times 8 Nov. 114/2 Note in Order Form below the extra saving made by ordering 500 or 1000 [cigarettes] at a time. 1972Accountant 26 Oct. 504/1 The phrase ‘order forms’ is to be understood to mean forms which the company makes available for other persons to order goods or services from the company.
1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right (1899) 81/1 His order-loving soul was daily vexed by reason of the irregularities.
1906W. James Mem. & Stud. (1911) ix. 222 Not only in the great city, but in the outlying towns, these natural ordermakers, whether amateurs or officials, came to the front immediately.
1902― Var. Relig. Exper. viii. 170 Unhappiness is apt to characterize the period of order-making and struggle. 1963Times 22 Feb., The order-making machinery in the Bill.
a1951A. C. Headley in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 367 It was the rent and the order man, and a new pair of shoes. 1977N.Z. Herald 5 Jan. 2-11/5 (Advt.), An experienced timber orderman is required for timber yard in western suburbs.
1912A. Brazil New Girl at St. Chad's vi. 99 By general custom all pencils..or other stray possessions were put into what was known as the forfeit tray, whence their owners might reclaim them by paying the penalty of the loss of an order mark. 1963Barnard & Lauwerys Handbk. Brit. Educ. Terms 141 Order mark, a punishment (usually confined to girls' schools) for offences of a comparatively trivial kind.
1936L. C. Douglas White Banners x. 226 She pushed the order-pad and pencil towards him. 1972M. Kaye Lively Game of Death (1974) i. 4 Manufacturers..whip out order pads and hope to sell enough merchandise.
1896Times (weekly ed.) 19 Jan. 52/2 There were as many as 70 questions on the order paper. 1946May's Treat. Parliament (ed. 14) ii. xii. 245 Together with the Minutes of Proceedings is printed the Order Paper, consisting of a programme of future business so far as appointed.
1829Censor 224 Render it incumbent on him to adopt the Shilling Order system.
1912Thiess & Joy Toll Telephone Pract. xiv. 214 (caption) Phantom circuit used as an order wire. 1948J. Atkinson Herbert & Procter's Telephony (new ed.) I. xvii. 345/1 The out-going order-wires are multiplied throughout all positions at the originating exchange. 1973R. N. Renton Data Telecommunication ix. 211/1 Communication with the customer for setting up and clearing connections is effected over telephone circuits (order wires) via the normal telephone exchange.
1898T. Hardy Wessex Poems 71 Marmont against the third gave the order-word.
Senses 10 d (i) and (ii) in Dict. become 10 d (ii) and (iii). Add: [II.] [10.] [d.] (i) The dimension of a determinant or square matrix.
1844Trans. Cambr. Philos. Soc. VIII. 77 Consider the function U = x (αξ + βη +..) +..x′ (α′ξ + β′η +...) + (n lines, and n terms in each line) ... The determinant..may be expressed as a determinant of the nth order. 1850[see *matrix n. 6 a]. 1882T. Muir Treat. Theory of Determinants i. 6 When the determinant has four, that is 2x2, elements, it is said to be of the second order or degree; [etc.]. 1934W. L. Cowley Adv. Pract. Math. iv. 68 An example of a fourth order determinant is given in (37). 1966Mathematical Rev. XXXI. 36/1 Matrices M of even order behave somewhat differently from those of odd order.
▪ II. order, v.|ˈɔːdə(r)|
Forms: 3–7 ordre, 5 ordyr, 6 ordour, -ur, 4– order.
[ME. ordre-n, f. ordre, order n.: cf. OF. ordreer, f. ordre, and L. ordināre, f. ordin-em, whence OF. ordener, mod.F. ordonner; Eng. to order is thus the equivalent in sense of L. ordināre and F. ordonner, and so in part a doublet of ordain.]
I.
1. a. trans. To give order or arrangement to; to put in order; to arrange or dispose in a particular order; to arrange methodically or suitably, place in right order; spec. to draw up in order of battle, to array, marshal. arch.
a1240Sawles Warde in Lamb. Hom. 261 Nihe wordes þer beoð, ah hu ha beoð iordret ant sunderliche isette..were long to tellen. 1514Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 20 In what maner were ordred theyr offrynges. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lviii. 197 Kyng yuoryn..ordred them in batayle. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 99 b, He ordred his battail, like a man expert in marciall science. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 2 When he corrected the Calender, and ordered the yeere according to the course of the Sunne. 1652–62Heylin Cosmogr. iii. (1673) 114/1 The news came to her as she was ordering her hair. 1683Apol. Prot. France i. 3, I..found him ordering his Books, and loose Papers. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. v, Boards like a dresser, to order my victuals upon. 1762Ann. Reg. 142 The officiating clerk..observing..a genteel couple standing in the aile, ordered them into a pew..being afterwards thanked for his civility. 1842Tennyson Day-Dream 74 Here all things in their place remain, As all were order'd, ages since. 1875Howells Foregone Concl. 216 Ordering her hair, some coils of which had been loosened by her flight.
b. Mil. to order arms (a gun), to bring a firearm into a position in which it is held vertically against the right side, the butt on the ground.
1826Scott Woodst. viii, Order your musket. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 260 The Commanding Officer is then to direct the Parade to Order Arms. 1847Infantry Man. (1854) 40 b, Arms are to be ordered without the word Order arms.
†c. To class, to rank. Obs. rare.
1662Petrie Ch. Hist. ii, Despising the legions of Angels (socially ordered with him). Ibid., All these..are ordered among the Members of the Church.
2. a. To set or keep in order or proper condition; to adjust, dispose, or carry on according to rule; to regulate, direct, conduct, rule, govern, manage; to settle. (In quot. 1593, to regulate the conveyance of (troops).)
1509Fisher Fun. Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 296 Her owne houshold with meruayllous dylygence and wysdome this noble prynces ordred. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III, 52 b, While he was thus ordrynge his affaires, tydinges came that the Earle of Richemond was passed Severne. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. iii. 140 Good Vnckle helpe to order seuerall powres To Oxford. 1599― Hen. V, v. Prol. 39 To order peace betweene them. 1673Temple Obs. United Prov. Wks. 1731 I. 57 Each of the Provinces was left to order the Matter of Religion, as they thought fit. 1710Philips Pastorals v. 76 At that he wound The murm'ring Strings, and order'd ev'ry Sound. 1739C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Br. 72 A small Arch, which is order'd to be turned under each of the Abutments. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. I. 1 They order, said I, this matter better in France. 1886Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Paston Carew iii, ‘Carpe diem’ was the motto by which he ordered his days. 1893Fairbairn Christ in Mod. Theol. ii. ii. iii. 437 The father so rules..as to order and bless his home.
†b. with clause: To settle, determine. Obs.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §3 The ploughe fote..is as a staye to order of what depenes the ploughe shall goo. 1581Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 63 One verse did but beget another, without ordering at the first, what should be at the last.
c. refl. To conduct oneself, behave. arch.
1535Coverdale Prov. xxiii. 1 Ordre thy self manerly with y⊇ thinges that are set before y⊇. ― 2 Macc. x. 23 When they had ordred them selues manly with their weapens & hondes. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Catechism, To ordre myselfe lowlye and reuerentlye to al my betters.
d. Of the Deity, etc.: To regulate or determine (occurrences, events, etc.); to ordain.
1642Rogers Naaman 41 Lo, how doth the Lord order the meanes unto it? 1671Milton Samson 30 Why was my breeding order'd and prescrib'd As of a person separate to God, Design'd for great exploits? 1719De Foe Crusoe i. ix, If the good providence of God had not wonderfully ordered the ship to be cast up nearer to the shore. 1819Shelley Cenci v. ii. 121 So my lot was ordered. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 91 It was ordered otherwise, and doubtless wisely.
†3. To put in order or readiness (for a purpose); to make ready, prepare. Obs.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 Shewynge how the pilgrym of y⊇ waye of religyon sholde prepare and order hymselfe. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lxiii. 219 Than the couent..orderyd themselues & so went out of the abbay to mete Huon. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 279 That manner of ordering things, whereby they are stamped and beaten verie small. 1657Burton's Diary (1828) II. 10 Read your votes..and so order your way for an explanatory Bill. 1662Pepys Diary 26 Apr., They brought us also some caveare, which I attempted to order. 1722De Foe Plague (1756) 167 Some Kitchen-ware for ordering their Food.
†4. To bring into order or submission to lawful authority; hence, to inflict disciplinary punishment on; to correct, chastise, punish. Obs.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 219 An incorrigyble persone that wyll not be ordered. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lxxxi. 250 Syn that he is one of my peers I wyll ordre hym by iugement. 1642T. Lechford Plain Dealing (1867) 91 One master Doughty, a Minister,..spake so in publique,..which was held a disturbance, and the Ministers spake to the Magistrate to order him. 1667Pepys Diary 9 Dec., This Lord is a very proud and wicked man, and the Parliament is likely to order him.
†5. To take a certain ‘order’ or course with (a person or thing); to treat, deal with, manage (in a specified manner). Obs.
1513More Rich. III (1883) 34 Yet is there none that..knoweth better to order him, then I that so long haue kept him. 1562in Child-Marriages 12 He was ordred worse then any seruaunt in her fathers house. 1660Sharrock Vegetables 18 Many..being thus ordered..will bear flowers the second year after the sowing. 1681Glanvill Sadducismus ii. 105, I..was assured that he had been well fed, and ordered as he used to be. 1721St. German's Doctor & Stud. 278 To take such persons..that they may be ordered according to the law. 1760Brown Compl. Farmer ii. 45 The way of ordering marle must be according to the nature of it. 1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 401 Hang it to dry, and order it as you do other coloured silks.
II.
6. a. To give orders for (something to be done, etc.); to enjoin, bid, command, direct; to prescribe medically. Const. with simple obj., obj. clause, or obj. and inf. pass., expressing the thing enjoined; more rarely with obj. and complement. Also with ellipsis of to be (chiefly U.S.)
a1550Freiris of Berwik 489 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 301 That he compeir in to our habeit quhyt, Vntill I ordour it, wer a grit dispyte. 1637Star Chamb. Decree §11 in Milton's Areop. (Arb.) 14 It is further Ordered and Decreed that no Merchant, Bookseller [etc.]. 1667D. Allsopp in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 8 They passed the Bill..and ordered it to be reported the next day. 1706A. Bedford Temple Mus. vii. 143 Moses had ordered the Kings a Copy of the Law. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xiv. ii, I have ordered to be at Home to none but yourself. 1781J. Witherspoon in Pennsylvania Jrnl. 9 May. 1/2 These things were ordered delivered to the army. 1794J. Smitheman Let. to Parr 19 Mar. in Parr's Wks. (1828) VIII. 567, I have..to beg that you will have the goodness to order a proper monument erected to his memory. 1799in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1877) XIII. 61 But the wind growing faint, I ordered the signal taken in. 1809Malkin Gil Blas ii. v. ⁋2 He ordered my companions to be handcuffed. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 102 Who ordered again that four hundred pieces of gold should be given to him. 1873J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xi. 191 My bill was introduced by Senator Williams of Oregon, read by title, and ordered printed. 1875J. G. Holland Sevenoaks in Scribner's Monthly Sept. 599/1 He went out,..jumped into Mr. Talbot's waiting coupe, and ordered himself driven home. 1891E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 228 The doctor had ordered as much fresh air as possible. 1938W. T. Walsh Philip II xxi. 423 The Duchess ordered ships fitted out to meet and escort him. 1972Sci. Amer. July 76/1 Frederick ordered the children raised in silence, so that they would not hear one spoken word. 1976M. Machlin Pipeline l. 510 Coutts ordered the ship's speed reduced to six knots. 1977Time 19 Dec. 9/2 When the local military commander was ordered removed after having congratulated the throng on its patriotic singing, Lagoa angrily summoned the marchers back on the pavement.
†b. To appoint (a day) for some purpose, by a parliamentary order. Obs.
1669Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 292 To-morrow is..orderd for the motion of the King's supply. 1676Ibid. 514 They rose, ordering Friday next to resume this consideration.
7. a. To give orders to, command, authoritatively direct (a person or agent, to do something, etc.).
1628Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 79 The Lacedemonians were orderd to furnish..so many more. 1749Fielding Tom Jones i. ii, He ordered an elderly Woman to rise..and come to him. 1855Prescott Philip II, i. iii. (1857) 103 He..ordered them to prepare to march on the following night.
absol.1824Mrs. Cameron Marten & Scholars iv. 26 Like some little boys, who, when they are hearing other children say their lessons,..order about them as if they were grown men. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. ii. i. 176 He belonged himself to the class whose business was to order rather than obey.
b. ellipt. To command or direct (a person) to go or come to, into, upon (a place, etc.), away, here, home, out, etc. to order about, to order hither and thither in a peremptory manner, domineer over, treat as a subordinate.
1667Ormonde MSS. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 58 The two soldiers ordered upon him. 1723Pres. St. Russia I. 157 The Czar ordered him for Astracan. 1727Swift Country Post Wks. 1755 III. i. 177 This day a jackdaw..was ordered close prisoner to a cage. 1747Gentl. Mag. 246 A bill is order'd into parliament for vesting the forfeited estates of certain traytors in his majesty. 1853C. Brontë Villette I. iv. 74, I refused to be ordered about and thrust from him. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 607 He was exasperated by the thought that he was ordered about and overruled by Russell. 1898Rider Haggard Dr. Therne i. 5 He..was ordered to a warmer climate. 1942R. G. Collingwood New Leviathan 201 For a man of weak or undeveloped will nothing is so pleasant as being ordered about.
c. to order up, in the game of euchre: to order (the suit of the card turned up by an opponent who is dealing) to be adopted as trumps; also absol.
1847J. S. Robb Streaks of Squatter Life 129 His antagonist ordered the king up. 1878[see assist v. 7 c]. 1950Hoyle's Games Modernized (ed. 20) 88 If the non-dealer thinks his hand good enough, with the suit of the turn-up card as trumps, to make three tricks, he says..‘I order it up’. 1963G. F. Hervey Handbk. Card Games 184 The elder hand (non-dealer) may either order up or pass. If he orders up, the suit of the exposed card becomes the trump suit, and the dealer must take up the exposed card and discard..a card.
8. To give an order or commission for; to direct (a thing) to be furnished or supplied. Also const. up and absol.
1763J. Woodforde Diary 3 Sept. (1924) I. 31 Mrs. Bacon pressed me to drive with her, but I had ordered in Hall, and I could not. 1836Bp. Wilson Diary in Life (1860) II. xv. 108 We ordered our ponies and johnpons. 1868Dickens Uncomm. Trav. xxii, ‘What would you..do, if you ordered one kind of wine and was required to drink another?’ 1880Mrs. Forrester Roy & V. I. 63 Shall I order you a cab? 1895Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 1 Please read remarks and rules before ordering. Ibid., How to order. Commence your order similar to the sample heading on page 2. a1903Mod. What have you ordered for dinner? 1930A. Bennett Imperial Palace ii. liv. 400 The waiter wrote and vanished. When Gracie returned, Evelyn said: ‘I've ordered.’ 1946D. Stivens Courtship Uncle Henry 197 We all drank together and ordered again. 1967‘L. Egan’ Nameless Ones xvi. 212 ‘Would you like to order, sir?’ Obsequious waiter. 1973J. Gores Final Notice (1974) xxvi. 166 We'll have some more sparkling burgundy and then we can order. 1976B. Lecomber Dead Weight vi. 72, I..ordered up two toasted ham sandwiches. 1976J. M. Brownjohn tr. Kirst's Time for Payment vi. 134 Order up, ladies and gentlemen, and don't worry about the breath test.
III. 9. Eccl. To admit to holy orders; to ordain; formerly also, to admit ceremonially into a monastic order; to admit or institute to a benefice. arch.
1303[see ordered ppl. a. 1]. c1315Shoreham 47 The bisschop, wanne he ordreth thes clerekes, Takth hym the cherche keyȝe. 13..Guy Warw. (A.) 5288 He made him a croun brod þere As a monke þat orderd were. 1496Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) vii. xvi. 303/2 Some frende of him that shall be ordred gyueth the bysshop some gyft. 1552Bk. Com. Prayer Ordering of Deacons, The Bisshoppe shal surcease from ordering that person. 1565Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 211 That the Bishop of Rome ordered and admitted all the Bishops thorowout the World..hath no possibilitie, or colour of truth in it selfe. a1610Babington Comf. Notes Num. viii. ii. §4 Note how fit it is to order Ministers in the face of the Church. 1895Besant In Deacon's Orders i. 2 One who has thus been ordered. |