English
order
Order comes from Old French ordre, from Latin ōrdinem (accusative of ōrdō) ‘row, rank, regular arrangement’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *ordō ‘to arrange’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ordō‘to arrange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEōrdinem‘row, rank, regular arrangement’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ordne‘order, rank’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ordre
- Englishearliest quotation 1549order
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ordō‘to arrange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEōrdinem‘row, rank, regular arrangement’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ordne‘order, rank’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ordre
- Englishearliest quotation 1549order
Earliest quotation: 1549, Thomas Cranmer et al., London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […]: “persons presented to be ordered deacons”.
The story
In sense “request for purchase”, compare bespoke.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’
reason, art, ready, rate, article, army, artist, arm, ratio, alarm, harmony, ordinary, armor, arthritis, articulate, anarchy, arithmetic, harmonic, artisan, aristocratic, harmonious, ornament, articulation, armament, inertia, ornate, inert, adorn, armadillo, harmonize, rta, artifice, armature, archon, rime, inordinate, harmonium, ordinal, arche, ordain, 74 more
through Proto-Italic *ordō ‘to arrange’
coordination, coordinate, subordinate, ordination, ordinate, ordinator, 2 more
through Latin ōrdinem
Today it means
noun Arrangement, disposition, or sequence.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *ordō / order