ordinance

[awr-dn-uhns]

noun

1. an authoritative rule or law; a decree or command.

   Synonyms: order

2. a public injunction or regulation.

   a city ordinance against excessive horn blowing.

   Synonyms: order

3. something believed to have been ordained, as by a deity or destiny.

4. Ecclesiastical.

   1. an established rite or ceremony.

   2. a sacrament.

   3. the communion.

ordinance

/ ˈɔːdɪnəns /

noun

1. an authoritative regulation, decree, law, or practice

Other Word Forms

• preordinance noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordinance¹

1275–1325; Middle English ordinaunce (< Old French ordenance ) < Medieval Latin ordinantia, derivative of Latin ordinant- (stem of ordināns ), present participle of ordināre to arrange. See ordination, -ance

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordinance¹

C14: from Old French ordenance, from Latin ordināre to set in order

Example Sentences

The allegations that RealPage’s algorithms artificially lifted rents led to a raft of cities passing or proposing ordinances to ban or limit the use of rent-setting software, including San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Single stair, and the fate of Culver City’s ordinance specifically, represents an early California acid test.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Her lawsuit on behalf of a neighbor living near the ICE facility, which sought to require police to enforce Portland’s noise ordinance, was dismissed.

Read more on Salon

The ordinance would also require officers to give clear, audible warnings about safe exit routes during “kettling,” when crowds are pushed into designated areas by police.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The proposed update to the city’s rent stabilization ordinance, which has been on the books since 1979, would be a massive shift in favor of tenants.

Read more on Los Angeles Times