ˈȯrd( ə )nən(t)s, ˈȯ(ə)d- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English ordinaunce, from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French ordenance, literally, art of ordering, arranging, from Medieval Latin ordinantia, from Latin ordinant-, ordinans (present participle of ordinare to put in order, arrange, appoint + -ia -y — more at ordain
1.
a. : an authoritative decree or direction : order
our swift ordinances on their way over the whole earth — Walt Whitman
b. : a public enactment, rule, or law promulgated by governmental authority: as
(1) : one of a number of laws or regulations issued at various periods of English history without the assent of one of the three powers (Crown, House of Lords, and House of Commons) necessary to an act of Parliament
(2) : a regulation or decree promulgated in Great Britain by any authority less than the sovereign enacting power
(3) : any of several acts of the United States Congress under the Articles of Confederation
(4) : a local law or regulation enacted by a city council or other similar body under powers delegated to it by the state
2.
a. : the act or an instance of ordering or arranging : direction , dispensation , control
insistence upon a higher and rational ordinance throughout the world — G.G.Coulton
b. : something ordained or decreed by fate or a deity : a decree or disposition of divine or providential origin
an ordinance of the Christian God — G.F.Hudson
c. obsolete : ordained or appointed place or condition
3.
a. : established rule, policy, or practice
a positive ordinance … that there should be no sketching until lessons were done — Arnold Bennett
b. : an established and fully authoritative religious ceremony, rite, or usage that is not considered a sacrament
Synonyms: see law