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Webster 1913 Edition


Ordinance

Or′di-nance

,
Noun.
[OE.
ordenance
, OF.
ordenance
, F.
ordonnance
. See
Ordain
, and cf.
Ordnance
,
Ordonnance
.]
1.
Orderly arrangement; preparation; provision.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
They had made their
ordinance

Of victual, and of other purveyance.
Chaucer.
2.
A rule established by authority; a permanent rule of action; a statute, law, regulation, rescript, or accepted usage; an edict or decree; esp., a local law enacted by a municipal government;
as, a municipal
ordinance
.
Thou wilt die by God’s just
ordinance
.
Shakespeare
By custom and the
ordinance
of times.
Shakespeare
Walking in all the commandments and
ordinances
of the Lord blameless.
Luke i. 6.
☞ Acts of Parliament are sometimes called ordinances; also, certain colonial laws and certain acts of Congress under Confederation; as, the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River; the colonial ordinance of 1641, or 1647. This word is often used in Scripture in the sense of a law or statute of sovereign power.
Ex. xv. 25.
Num. x. 8.
Ezra iii. 10.
Its most frequent application now in the United States is to laws and regulations of municipal corporations.
Wharton (Law Dict.).
3.
(Eccl.)
An established rite or ceremony.
4.
Rank; order; station.
[Obs.]
Shak.
5.
[See
Ordnance
.]
Ordnance; cannon.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Ordinance

OR'DINANCE

,
Noun.
1.
A rule established by authority; a permanent rule of action. An ordinance may be a law or statute of sovereign power. In this sense it is often used in the Scriptures. Ex. 15. Num. 10. Ezra 3. It may also signify a decree, edict or rescript, and the word has sometimes been applied to the statutes of Parliament, but these are usually called acts or laws. In the United States, it is never applied to the acts of Congress, or of a state legislature.
2.
Observance commanded.
3.
Appointment.
4.
Established rite or ceremony. Heb. 9. In this sense, baptism and the Lord's supper are denominated ordinances.

Definition 2024


ordinance

ordinance

English

Alternative forms

Noun

ordinance (plural ordinances)

  1. a local law, an edict or decree.
  2. a religious practice or ritual prescribed by the church.

Usage notes

This word is sometimes confused with ordnance, or military weaponry.

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Derived terms

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