Orders

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɔː.dəz/

Definitions

1. A set of instructions is provided to guide actions or behaviors while directives are organized for implementation or request fulfillment in various contexts
2. Requests made to obtain goods or services ; authoritative commands to be followed ; a particular arrangement or pattern comprehensively organized
3. Demands placed for products or assistance ; directives issued to direct action ; an established sequence or system of organization

Etymology: "Orders" is the plural of "order," so its history is that of the noun. The Latin "ōrdō" meant a row or rank, and its literal image was a row of threads on a loom. The Latin verb "ōrdior," meaning "begin," literally meant "begin to weave," and it shares that root. English took the word through Old French "ordre," "ordne," and "ordene," all meaning "order" or "rank." The sense of a request for goods survives in the same family as "bespoke," where an item is made to order rather than taken off a shelf. "Order" and the Latin "ōrdō" are doublets: two forms of one Latin word that reached English by different routes.

Synonyms: commands, instructions, requests, directives

Antonyms: chaos, disorder, anarchy