The story of order

The word order originally came from weaving cloth.

In Latin, ordiri meant “to begin a web”, by placing the long threads on a loom before weaving starts.

Ordo meant a row, a line: things placed side by side in the correct sequence.

The Romans used ordo for rows of trees, ranks of soldiers and rows of seats in a theatre.

Examples: alphabetical order, in order of size.

Roman society was also arranged in “rows”. Senators and knights each had their own ordo.

In the Middle Ages, society was often divided into three groups: people who prayed, people who fought, and people who worked.

Religious orders. Groups of monks living by the same rules became called orders: the Benedictine Order, the Franciscan Order. Even today, priests receive holy orders.

Orders of knighthood. Groups of chosen knights formed orders, like the Order of the Garter. Later, the medal or ribbon given to members could also be called an order.

Secret societies. Groups such as the Freemasons borrowed the word for their own organisations.

Social class. Expressions such as the lower orders refer to social classes.

If everything is in its correct place, there is order: tidiness.

Example: Everything is in order.

The opposite is disorder, which originally meant a broken arrangement.

When people are involved, the idea becomes: people stay in their proper places and follow the rules.

Examples: law and order, keep the class in order.

Business meetings and parliaments follow a planned sequence: the order of business.

When the Speaker shouts Order! Order!, they mean: follow the rules and speak in the correct sequence.

Someone who breaks the rules is out of order. Later this phrase was also used for bad behaviour (That was out of order.) and for machines that are not working (The lift is out of order.).

Originally, the verb to order meant to arrange, as in I ordered my thoughts.

Then the meaning changed. The person who decides how things should be arranged is often the person in charge.

By the 1500s, an order also meant a command, especially in the army.

A command given to a supplier became an order for goods.

Examples: an order for 50 chairs, your order is ready.

In restaurants the same idea survived: to order food. You are politely instructing the kitchen what to provide.

The word also appears in money order and banker’s order: written instructions to pay money.

In the 1700s, scientists classified living things into levels: class, order, genus, species.

Here the word returned to its oldest meaning: living things arranged in groups and ranks.