Ordinance

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. Orderly arrangement; preparation; provision. [Obs.] Spenser. 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.

3. An established rite or ceremony.

4. Rank; order; station. [Obs.] Shak.

5. Ordnance; cannon. [Obs.] Shak.