or·di·nance /ˈɔrdnən(t)s, ˈɔrdṇən(t)s/
法令,條例,聖餐禮
Or·di·nance n.
1. Orderly arrangement; preparation; provision. [Obs.]
They had made their ordinance
Of victual, and of other purveyance. --Chaucer.
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.
Thou wilt die by God's just ordinance. --Shak.
By custom and the ordinance of times. --Shak.
Walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. --Luke i. 6.
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.).
3. Eccl. An established rite or ceremony.
4. Rank; order; station. [Obs.]
5. Ordnance; cannon. [Obs.]
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ordinance
n 1: an authoritative rule [syn: 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" [syn: ordination]