Order definition

Order as a noun

1. (often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed

   "the British ships dropped anchor and waited for orders from London"

2. a degree in a continuum of size or quantity

   "it was on the order of a mile"

   Same sense: order of magnitude

3. established customary state (especially of society)

   "order ruled in the streets"

4. logical or comprehensible arrangement of separate elements

   "we shall consider these questions in the inverse order of their presentation"

   Same sense: ordering, ordination

5. a condition of regular or proper arrangement

   "he put his desk in order"

   Same sense: orderliness

6. a legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge)

   "a friend in New Mexico said that the order caused no trouble out there"

   Same sense: decree, fiat, edict, rescript

7. a commercial document used to request someone to supply something in return for payment and providing specifications and quantities

   "IBM received an order for a hundred computers"

   Same sense: purchase order

8. a formal association of people with similar interests

   "men from the fraternal order will staff the soup kitchen today"

   Same sense: club, society, social club, lodge, guild, gild

9. a body of rules followed by an assembly

   Same sense: rules of order, parliamentary law, parliamentary procedure

10. a group of person living under a religious rule

    "the order of Saint Benedict"

    Same sense: monastic order

11. (biology) taxonomic group containing one or more families

12. a request for something to be made, supplied, or served

    "I gave the waiter my order"

13. (architecture) one of original three styles of Greek architecture distinguished by the type of column and entablature used or a style developed from the original three by the Romans

14. the act of putting things in a sequential arrangement

    "there were mistakes in the ordering of items on the list"

    Same sense: ordering

Order as a verb

15. give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority

    "She ordered him to do the shopping"

    Same sense: say, tell, enjoin

16. make a request for something

    "Order me some flowers"

17. issue commands or orders for

    Same sense: dictate, prescribe

18. bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations

    Same sense: regulate, govern, regularize, regularise

19. bring order to or into

    "Order these files"

20. place in a certain order

    "order the photos chronologically"

21. appoint to a clerical posts

    Same sense: ordinate, ordain, consecrate

22. arrange thoughts, ideas, temporal events

    Same sense: put, set up, arrange

23. assign a rank or rating to

    Same sense: place, rate, range, grade, rank

Synonyms and antonyms

• order of magnitude
• ordering
• ordination
• orderliness
• decree
• fiat
• edict
• rescript
• purchase order
• club definition
• society definition
• social club
• lodge
• guild
• gild
• rules of order
• parliamentary law
• parliamentary procedure
• monastic order
• say definition
• tell definition
• enjoin
• dictate
• prescribe

Opposite: disorder.

All synonyms of order, sense by sense

How to say order

Order has 2 syllables and rhymes with border. Syllable counts and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary.

Words that rhyme with order

• border
• disorder
• recorder
• camcorder
• boarder
• snowboarder
• reorder
• warder
• corder

ORDER in word games

Scrabble

6

Words With Friends

6

Anagrams

0

Is ORDER a valid Scrabble word? Yes, it is in the ENABLE list most word games use. Check ORDER in the word checker, or unscramble ORDER to see the shorter words in its letters.