order

OR-dur/ˈɔɹ.dɚ/UKAW-duh/ˈɔː.də/

Verborders, ordering, ordered

Noun pluralorders

31 meanings of order

Practice

1
verbtransitive
To ask a business to make, sell, or send you something.
Like telling a waiter which food you want them to bring you.
I ordered a sandwich for lunch.
We need to order more chairs for the office.
UsageSay order a pizza or order it online.
Similarbuy, purchase, request, commission
Oppositecancel
2
purchase requestnouncountable
A request asking a business to make, sell, or send you something, or the things you asked for.
Like a note you hand a shop that tells them what you want to buy.
I placed an order for two pizzas online.
The store can't fill your order until next week.
UsageSay place an order for things you buy.
Similarrequest, purchase, commission
3
tell to doverbtransitive
To tell someone firmly that they must do something.
Like a boss telling a worker to do a job right now.
The judge ordered him to pay a fine.
Teachers can order students to leave the room.
UsageSay He ordered me to leave.
Similarcommand, instruct, direct, tell
4
a commandnouncountable
A clear instruction telling someone what they must do.
Like when a coach tells the team exactly what to do, and they must do it.
The soldier followed the order without question.
She gave the order to leave the building at once.
UsageSay give an order and follow orders.
Similarcommand, instruction, directive
5
sequencenouncountable
The way things are arranged one after another, or where one thing comes in that line.
Like lining up by height, where each person has a set place.
Put the books back on the shelf in the right order.
The names are listed in alphabetical order.
UsageSay in the right order or in alphabetical order.
Similarsequence, arrangement, succession
6
noununcountable
When everything is neat and in its proper place.
Like a tidy room where every toy sits in its own box.
She keeps her desk in perfect order.
After cleaning, the whole house was in order again.
UsageSay put your things in order.
Similartidiness, neatness, organization
Oppositedisorder, chaos, mess
7
public calmnouncountable
A calm, peaceful state where people obey the law and behave well.
Like a calm playground where everyone follows the rules and no one fights.
The police worked hard to keep order during the protest.
Teachers must keep order in a noisy classroom.
UsageSay keep order or law and order.
Similarpeace, calm, control, stability
Oppositedisorder, chaos, anarchy, unrest
8
nouncountable
How a society, government, or group of countries is set up and run at one time, as one whole system.
After the war, world leaders tried to build a new order based on trade and peace.
The revolution swept away the old order, and the king lost all his power.
UsageSay the social order for how a society is arranged.
Similarsystem, structure
9
honor (award)nouncountable
A special honor given by a country, royal family, or church for great service.
Like a medal a country gives to thank someone for doing something great.
The king pinned the order to her jacket for her years of service.
She wears the order on her jacket at official events.
Similardecoration, honor, award
Note
10
religious groupnouncountable
A group of monks, nuns, or other religious people who live by the same rules.
Like a club of religious people who all promise to live by the same rules.
She joined an order of nuns after college.
The monks belong to an order founded centuries ago.
UsageSay join a religious order.
Similarcommunity, brotherhood, congregation
11
biologynouncountable
A large group used to sort living things, bigger than a family but smaller than a class.
Like a big folder on a computer that holds smaller folders inside it.
Bats and whales belong to different orders of mammals.
Scientists placed the strange new insect in its own order.
Note
12
nouncountable or uncountable
A rank or class of people in society, or a type or kind of thing.
Like sorting people into ranks, the way a school has different grades.
Knights belonged to a higher order than common workers.
These problems are of a different order than the ones before.
UsageOf the highest order means very great, for good or bad things: a fool of the highest order.
Similarclass, rank, estate, kind, caliber
Note
13
batting lineupnouncountable or uncountable
The list that shows which players bat first, second, and so on.
Like a list that shows who goes first, second, and so on.
The captain changed the order so his best player batted third.
A lower place in the order meant he rarely came in to bat.
UsageSay move up the order to bat earlier.
Similarlineup
Note

Less common meanings

14
noununcountable
The state something is in, especially whether a machine or tool works the way it should.
Our old bike is still in good working order.
Grandpa keeps his lawn mower clean and in perfect running order.
UsageSay in working order for working well.
Similarcondition, shape, state
15
verbtransitive
To put things in a line or a sensible arrangement.
Like grouping your crayons by color in any way you choose.
He ordered the numbers from smallest to largest.
You can order the list however you like.
UsageSay order them by size.
Similarsort, arrange, rank, organize, sequence
16
payment notenouncountable or uncountable
A written note telling someone to pay out money or hand over property.
Like a note that tells the bank to give money to a friend.
He wrote out an order for fifty dollars payable to the merchant.
The bank honored the order and released the funds to its bearer.
Similardraft, warrant
Note
17
scalenouncountable or uncountable
A rough measure of how big or wide-reaching something is.
Like saying something is about ten times bigger instead of giving an exact number.
The repair will cost something on the order of five hundred dollars.
The new computer is about ten times faster, an order of magnitude better than the old one.
UsageOn the order of means about.
Similarscale
Note
18
nouncountable or uncountable
A group of people who share the same interests or beliefs.
Like a club where everyone shares the same hobby.
He belonged to an ancient order of scholars who met in secret.
Members of the order gathered each spring to share new discoveries.
Similarsociety, fellowship, association, guild
19
knightsnouncountable
A group of knights joined together, often to honor service or bravery.
Like a special club for knights who served the king.
The king founded a new order to reward his bravest knights.
Knights of the order swore lifelong loyalty to the crown.
Similarbrotherhood, fellowship, fraternity
20
nounUScountableus
One serving of a food that you buy at a restaurant or food stand.
We shared an order of fries at the fair.
Dad got two orders of pancakes for the kids at the diner.
UsageSay an order of fries.
Similarserving, portion
Note
21
priestly ranknouncountable or uncountable
A rank in the church given to someone so they can serve as a minister.
Like an official rank in an army, but for people who serve a church.
Her brother plans to take holy orders after he finishes seminary.
The bishop gave him the order of deacon last spring.
UsageTake holy orders means become a priest or other minister.
Similarrank
Note
22
column stylenouncountable or uncountable
In old Greek and Roman building, a set style for a column and the parts above it.
Like a recipe that says exactly how each part of a building should look.
The temple was built in the Doric order.
Renaissance architects revived the classical orders of antiquity.
Similarstyle
Note
23
noununcountable
The agreed rules for how a meeting, debate, or group of lawmakers is run, and following them.
The person leading the meeting said his question was out of order and moved on.
At the town meeting, a woman stood up on a point of order to say the vote was not done right.
UsageSay out of order for against the rules.
Note
24
verb
To make someone a priest or minister in a church.
persons presented to be ordered deacons
1549, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilersHere, ordered means ordained, made deacons in the church.
25
noun
In algebra, the biggest power found in an expression or term.
26
noun
In chemistry, a number showing how the speed of a reaction depends on how much of each chemical is present.
27
noun
In math, how many members a set has, or how many points a graph has.
28
noun
In electronics, a number showing how complex a filter or similar circuit is, which sets how sharply it cuts off signals.
29
noun
In math, how many times you combine an element with itself to get back to the starting point.
30
noun
In math, a set whose items are arranged so some can be compared as higher or lower.
31
noun
In math, the rule that says which items in a set come before others.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of order apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It came through Old French from Latin ordo, meaning a row, rank, or regular arrangement. The Latin word literally meant a row of threads in a loom.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

English order came through Old French from Latin ordo. en.wiktionary.org
Latin ordo meant a row, rank, or regular arrangement. en.wiktionary.org
Latin ordo literally meant a row of threads in a loom. en.wiktionary.org