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 ]

☞ 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 ]