ordinance

Noun
Synonyms: regulationordination

WordNet 3.0

Noun (3)

  1. an authoritative ruleSynonyms: regulation
  2. a statute enacted by a city government
  3. the act of ordaining; the act of conferring (or receiving) holy orders“the rabbi's family was present for his ordination”Synonyms: ordination
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Ordinance \Or"di*nance\, n. [OE. ordenance, OF. ordenance, F. ordonnance. See Ordain, and cf. Ordnance, Ordonnance.] [1913 Webster]

1.Orderly arrangement; preparation; provision. [Obs.] --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

They had made their ordinance Of victual, and of other purveyance.— Chaucer.[1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Thou wilt die by God's just ordinance.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
By custom and the ordinance of times.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
Walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.— Luke i. 6.[1913 Webster]

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.). [1913 Webster]

3.(Eccl.) An established rite or ceremony. [1913 Webster]

4.Rank; order; station. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]

5.[See Ordnance.] Ordnance; cannon. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]

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