ORDINANCES

Noun

ordinances

plural of ordinance

Source: Wiktionary


ORDINANCE

Or"di*nance, n. Etym: [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. Shak. By custom and the ordinance of times. Shak. Walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Luke i. 6.

Note: 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.)

Definition: An established rite or ceremony.

4. Rank; order; station. [Obs.] Shak.

5. Etym: [See Ordnance.]

Definition: Ordnance; cannon. [Obs.] Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

25 November 2024

ONCHOCERCIASIS

(noun) infestation with slender threadlike roundworms (filaria) deposited under the skin by the bite of black fleas; when the eyes are involved it can result in blindness; common in Africa and tropical America


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Coffee Trivia

In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.

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