Order!

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order (v.) 

c.1200, "give order to, to arrange in order," from order (n.). Meaning "to give orders for or to" is from 1540s. Related: Ordered; ordering.

order (n.) 

early 13c., "body of persons living under a religious discipline," from O.Fr. ordre "position, estate; rule, regulation; religious order" (11c.), from earlier ordene, from L. ordinem (nom. ordo) "row, rank, series, arrangement," originally "a row of threads in a loom," from Italic root *ord- "to arrange, arrangement" (cf. ordiri "to begin to weave," e.g. in primordial), of unknown origin.

Meaning "a rank in the (secular) community" is first recorded c.1300; meaning "command, directive" is first recorded 1540s, from the notion of "to keep in order." Military and honorary orders grew our of the fraternities of Crusader knights. Business and commerce sense is attested from 1837. In natural history, as a classification of living things, it is first recorded 1760. Meaning "condition of a community which is under the rule of law" is from late 15c.

Phrase in order to (1650s) preserves etymological notion of "sequence." The word reflects a medieval notion: "a system of parts subject to certain uniform, established ranks or proportions," and was used of everything from architecture to angels. Old English expressed many of the same ideas with endebyrdnes. In short order "without delay" is from 1834, American English; order of battle is from 1769.

orderly (adj.) 

"arranged in order," 1570s, from order (n.) + -ly (1).

orderly (adv.) 

late 15c., "in due order," from order + -ly (2).

orderly (n.) 

"military attendant who carries orders," 1781, short for orderly corporal, etc. Extended 1809 to an attendant at a hospital (originally a military hospital) charged with keeping things in order and clean. See orderly (adj.).

ordain (v.) 

late 13c., "to appoint or admit to the ministry of the Church," from stem of O.Fr. ordener "place in order, arrange, prepare; consecrate, designate" (Mod.Fr. ordonner) and directly from L. ordinare"put in order, arrange, dispose, appoint," from ordo (gen. ordinis) "order" (see order (n.)). The notion is "to confer holy orders upon." Meaning "to decree, enact" is from c.1300; sense of "to set (something) that will continue in a certain order" is from early 14c. Related: Ordained; ordaining.

ordinal (adj.) 

late 14c., "regular, ordinary," from O.Fr. ordinel and directly from L.L. ordinalis ""showing order, denoting an order of succession," from L. ordo (gen. ordinis) "row, series" (see order (n.)). Meaning "marking position in an order or series" is from 1590s.

mail-order 

1875, from mail (n.1) + order. Before television and the Internet, the bane of retailers and shop-owners.

The origin, foundation and principle of mail order trading is universally recognized as wrong. It was conceived in iniquity and brought forth in despair as the world's greatest destructive medium. Mail Order Trading was born in the brain of knaves and thieves who fired their building for insurance profits, then sold the salvaged and damaged stock to the unsuspecting sons of man in distant territory. [Thomas J. Sullivan, "Merchants and Manufacturers on Trial," Chicago, 1914]

coordination 

also co-ordination, c.1600, "orderly combination," from Fr. coordination (14c.) or directly from L.L.coordinationem (nom. coordinatio), from pp. stem of L. coordinare "to set in order, arrange," fromcom- "together" (see com-) + ordinatio "arrangement," from ordo "order" (see order). Meaning "action of setting in order" is from 1640s; that of "harmonious adjustment or action," especially of muscles and bodily movements, is from 1855.

extraordinary (adj.) 

early 15c., from L. extraordinarius "out of the common order," from extra ordinem "out of order," especially the usual order, from extra "out" (see extra-) + ordinem (nom. ordo) "order" (seeorder). Related: Extraordinarily.

inordinate (adj.) 

late 14c., "not ordered, lacking order or regularity," from L. inordinatus "unordered, not arranged," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + ordinatus, pp. of ordinare "to set in order" (see order). Sense of "immoderate, excessive" is from notion of "not kept within orderly limits." Related:Inordinately; inordinateness.

mandamus 

1530s, "writ from a superior court to an inferior one, specifying that something be done," (late 14c. in Anglo-French), from Latin, lit. "we order," first person plural present indicative of mandare "to order" (see mandate (n.)).

mandate (n.) 

"judicial or legal order," c.1500, from M.Fr. mandat (15c.) and directly from L. mandatum"commission, command, order," noun use of neuter pp. of mandare "to order, commit to one's charge," lit. "to give into one's hand," probably from manus "hand" (see manual) + dare "to give" (see date (n.1)). Political sense of "approval supposedly conferred by voters to the policies or slogans advocated by winners of an election" is from 1796. League of Nations sense is from 1919.

disorder (v.) 

late 15c., from dis- "not" (see dis-) + the verb order (see order). Replaced earlier disordeine (mid-14c.), from O.Fr. desordainer, from M.L. disordinare "throw into disorder," from L. ordinare "to order, regulate" (see ordain). Related: Disordered; disordering. The noun is recorded from 1520s, from the verb.

short-order 

in restaurant jargon, "to be made quickly," 1906, from short (adj.) + order (n.). First attested in an O. Henry story.

ordinary (adj.) 

early 15c., "belonging to the usual order or course," from O.Fr. ordinarie "ordinary, usual" and directly from L. ordinarius "customary, regular, usual, orderly," from ordo (gen. ordinis) "order" (see order (n.)). Its various noun usages, dating to late 14c. and common until 19c., now largely extinct except in out of the ordinary (1893). In British education, Ordinary level (abbrev. O level), "lowest of the three levels of General Certificate of Education," is attested from 1947. Related:Ordinarily.

adorn (v.) 

late 14c., "to decorate, embellish," also "be an ornament to," from O.Fr. aorner "to order, arrange, dispose, equip; adorn," from L. adornare "equip, provide, embellish," from ad- "to" (see ad-) +ornare "prepare, furnish, adorn, fit out," from stem of ordo "order" (see order). The -d- was reinserted by French scribes 14c., in English from late 15c. Related: Adorned; adorning.

derangement 

1737, "disturbance of regular order," from Fr. dérangement (17c.), from déranger (see derange). Of mental order, from 1800.

indisposed (adj.) 

c.1400, "unprepared;" early 15c., "not in order," from in- (1) "not" + disposed; or else from L.L.indispositus "without order, confused." Mid-15c. as "diseased;" modern sense of "not very well" is from 1590s. A verb indispose is attested from 1650s but is perhaps a back formation of this.

coordinate (adj.) 

1640s, "of the same order," from M.L. coordinatus, pp. of coordinare "to set in order, arrange" (seecoordination). Meaning "involving coordination" is from 1769. Related: Coordinance.

ornate (adj.) 

early 15c., from L. ornatus "fitted out, furnished, supplied; adorned, decorated, embellished," pp. ofornare "adorn, fit out," from stem of ordo "order" (see order (n.)). Earliest reference is to literary style. Related: Ornately; ornateness.

Jacobin 

early 14c., of the order of Dominican friars whose order built its first convent near the church ofSaint-Jacques in Paris, from O.Fr. Jacobin (13c.) "Dominican friar," also, in the Middle East, "a Copt;" see Jacob. The Revolutionary extremists took up quarters there October 1789. Used generically of radicals and allegedly radical reformers since 1793. Related: Jacobinism.

chronological (adj.) 

"arranged in order by time," 1610s, from chronology + -ical. Chronological order is attested by 1754. Related: Chronologically.

precept (n.) 

late 14c., from L. praeceptum "maxim, rule, order," prop. neuter pp. of praecipere "give rules to, order, advise," lit. "take beforehand," from prae "before" (see pre-) + capere (pp. captus) "to take" (see capable).

commandment (n.) 

late 13c., "an order from an authority," from O.Fr. comandement "order, command," from L.*commandamentum, from *commandare (see command). Pronounced as four syllables until 17c.

Of þe x commandements ... þe first comondement is þis, O God we ssul honuri [c.1280]

Carnivora 

order of mammals, 1830, from L. (animalia) carnivora "flesh-eating (animals)," neuter plural ofcarnivorus (see carnivorous). Applied as the scientific name of a large order of flesh-eating mammals by French naturalist Georges Léopole Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert, Baron Cuvier (1769-1832).

countermand 

early 15c., from O.Fr. contremander "reverse an order or command" (13c.), from contre- "against" (see contra-) + mander, from L. mandare "to order" (see mandate).

ordinance (n.) 

c.1300, "an authoritative direction, decree, or command" (narrower or more transitory than a law), from O.Fr. ordenance (Mod.Fr. ordonnance) or directly from M.L. ordinantia, from L. ordinantem(nom. ordinans), prp. of ordinare "put in order" (see ordain). By early 14c. senses had emerged of "arrangement in ranks or rows" (especially in order of battle), also "warlike provisions, equipment" (a sense now in ordnance).

disposition (n.) 

late 14c., "ordering, management," also "tendency of mind," from O.Fr. disposicion (12c.) "arrangement, order; mood, state of mind," from L. dispositionem (nom. dispositio) "arrangement, management," noun of action from pp. stem of disponere "to put in order, arrange" (see dispose). References to "temperament" (late 14c. in English) are from astrological use of the word for "position of a planet as a determining influence."

Octavian 

masc. proper name, from Latin, from Octavius, from octavus "eighth," from octo (see eight).

But although we find so marked differences in the use of the numerals as names, it is impossible to believe that this use did not arise in the same way for all; that is, that they were at first used to distinguish children by the order of birth. But when we find them as praenomina in historical times it is evident that they no longer referred to order of birth. [George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina," "Harvard Studies in Classical Philology," 1897]

backorder 

also back-order, by 1980 (n.); 1985 (v.), from back (adj.) + order. Related: Backordered.

repair (v.1) 

"to mend, to put back in order," late 14c., from O.Fr. reparer, from L. reparare "restore, put back in order," from re- "again" (see re-) + parare "make ready, prepare" (see pare). Related: Repaired;repairing. The related noun is attested from 1590s.

subordinate (adj.) 

mid-15c., from M.L. subordinatus "placed in a lower order, made subject," pp. of subordinare "place in a lower order," from L. sub "under" (see sub-) + ordinare "arrange" (see ordain). Related:Subordinance; subordinant.

saurian 

reptile of the order Sauria, 1807, from Mod.L. sauria "the order of reptiles," from Gk. sauros"lizard" (see -saurus). Sauropod is 1891, from Mod.L. sauropoda (O.C. Marsh, 1884), second element from Gk. pous "foot" (see foot).

D-day 

1918, "date set for the beginning of a military operation," with D as an abbreviation of day, cf. H-hour, also from the same military order of Sept. 7, 1918:

The First Army will attack at H-Hour on D-Day with the object of forcing the evacuation of the St. Mihiel salient. [Field Order No. 8, First Army, A.E.F.]

"They designate the day and hour of the operation when the day and hour have not yet been determined, or where secrecy is essential" [U.S. Army Center of Military History Web site]. Now almost exclusively of June 6, 1944.

dispose (v.) 

late 14c., from O.Fr. disposer (13c.) "arrange, order, control, regulate" (influenced in form by poser"to place"), from from L. disponere "put in order, arrange, distribute," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) +ponere "to put, place" (see position). Related: Disposed; disposing.

primate (n.) 

"high bishop," c.1200, from M.L. primas (gen. primatis) "church primate," from Late Latin adj.primas "of the first rank, chief, principal," from primus "first" (see prime (adj.)). Meaning "biological order including monkeys and humans" is 1898, from Mod.L. Primates (Linnæus), from plural of L. primas so called from supposedly being the "highest" order of mammals (originally also including bats). Hence, primatology "the study of Primates" (1941).

cosmos (n.) 

c.1200 (but not popular until 1848, as a translation of Humboldt's Kosmos), from Gk. kosmos"order, good order, orderly arrangement," a word with several main senses rooted in those notions: The verb kosmein meant generally "to dispose, prepare," but especially "to order and arrange (troops for battle), to set (an army) in array;" also "to establish (a government or regime);" "to deck, adorn, equip, dress" (especially of women). Thus kosmos had an important secondary sense of "ornaments of a woman's dress, decoration" (cf. kosmokomes "dressing the hair") as well as "the universe, the world."

Pythagoras is said to have been the first to apply this word to "the universe," perhaps originally meaning "the starry firmament," but later it was extended to the whole physical world, including the earth. For specific reference to "the world of people," the classical phrase was he oikoumene (ge)"the inhabited (earth)." Septuagint uses both kosmos and oikoumene. Kosmos also was used in Christian religious writing with a sense of "worldly life, this world (as opposed to the afterlife)," but the more frequent word for this was aion, lit. "lifetime, age."

Beguine 

late 15c., from Fr. béguine (13c.), M.L. beguina, a member of a women's spiritual order said to have been founded c.1180 in Liege in the Low Countries. They are said to take their name from the surname of Lambert le Bègue "Lambert the Stammerer," a Liege priest who was instrumental in their founding, and it's likely the word was pejorative at first. The order generally preserved its reputation, though it quickly drew imposters who did not; nonetheless it eventually was condemned as heretical. A male order, called Beghards founded communities by the 1220s in imitation of them, but they soon degenerated (cf. O.Fr. beguin "(male) Beguin," also "hypocrite") and wandered begging in the guise of religion; they likely were the source of the words beg and beggar, though there is disagreement over whether Beghard produced M.Du. beggaert "mendicant" or was produced by it. Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" (1935) refers to a kind of popular dance of W.Indian origin, from French colloquial béguin "an infatuation, boyfriend, girlfriend," earlier "child's bonnet," and before that "nun's headdress" (14c.), from M.Du. beggaert, ultimately the same word.

suborn (v.) 

"to procure by bribery, to lure (someone) to commit a crime," 1520s (implied in subornation), from M.Fr. suborner (13c.), from L. subornare "suborn," originally "equip," from sub "under, secretly" (see sub-) + ornare "equip," related to ordo "order" (see order). Related: Suborned; suborning.

array (v.) 

early 14c., from stem of O.Fr. areer "to put in order," from V.L. *ar-redare (cf. It. arredare), from L.ad- "to" (see ad-) + Frankish *ræd- "ready" or some cognate Germanic source, from P.Gmc.*raidjan "to place in order" (cf. Goth. garadis, O.E. geræde "ready;" see ready). Related: Arrayed;arraying.

syntax (n.) 

c.1600, from Fr. syntaxe, from L.L. syntaxis, from Gk. syntaxis "a putting together or in order, arrangement, syntax," from stem of syntassein "put in order," from syn- "together" (see syn-) +tassein "arrange" (see tactics).

honi soit qui mal y pense 

Middle French, "shame on him who thinks evil of it;" proverbial expression recorded from c.1300, used as motto of the Order of the Garter.

cetacean (n.) 

1836, from Cetacea, name of the order of marine mammals.

deranged 

c.1790, "insane;" of things, "out of order," from 1796; pp. adj. from derange.

protester (n.) 

"demonstrator, public opponent of the established order," 1960, agent noun from protest (v.).

Augustine (adj.) 

c.1400 in reference to members of the religious order named for St. Augustine the Great (354-430), bishop of Hippo.

baronet (n.) 

c.1400, dim. of baron (q.v.); originally a younger or lesser baron; as a titled hereditary order, established 1611.

natural (adj.) 

c.1300, naturel, "of one's inborn character; hereditary, by birth;" early 14c. as "of the world of nature (especially as opposed to man)," from O.Fr. naturel "of nature, conforming to nature; by birth," and directly from L. naturalis "by birth, according to nature," from natura "nature" (see nature). From late 15c. as "not miraculous, in conformity with nature." Meaning "easy, free from affectation" is attested from c.1600. Of things, "not artificially created," c.1600. As a euphemism for "illegitimate, bastard" (of children), it is first recorded c.1400, on notion of blood kinship (but not legal status).

Natural science is from late 14c.; natural law is from early 15c. Natural order "apparent order in nature" is from 1690s. Natural childbirth first attested 1933. Natural life, usually in reference to the duration of life, is from late 15c. Natural history is from 1560s (see history). To die of natural causes is from 1570s.

command (n.) 

c.1400, "order, command;" see command (v.). Meaning "control, authority" is from mid-15c.