order

Reading level: easy

Estimated CEFR level: A1 — Beginner

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun (often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
  2. noun a degree in a continuum of size or quantity
  3. noun established customary state (especially of society)

Etymology

From Middle English ordre, from Old French ordre, ordne, ordene (“order, rank”), from Latin ōrdinem, accusative of ōrdō (“row, rank, regular arrangement”, literally “row of threads in a loom”), from Proto-Italic *ordō (“to arrange”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂or-d-, from *h₂er-. Related to Latin ōrdior (“begin”, literally “begin to weave”). In sense “request for purchase”, compare bespoke. Doublet of ordo. Compare typologically Russian поря́док (porjádok) (akin to ряд (rjad)).

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