A Dictionary of Cont..

orchis. The plural is orchides, not arches. A new
singular orchid, with a regular plural orchids,
was coined by a botanist in 1854. It is now the
usual name for these plants.
order. This verb may be followed by an infinitive,
as in he ordered her to go. It may also be followed
by a that clause with the clause verb a
subjunctive or a subjunctive equivalent, as in
he ordered that she go. The infinitive construction
is generally preferred. When order is followed
by a passive infinitive, as in he ordered
them to be sent, the to be may be omitted, as in
he ordered them sent. This construction is not
often used in Great Britain but is standard
practice in the United States.
order; command; instruction; direction; directive;
injunction. All of these terms have the meaning
of an authoritative mandate. Order is the
most inclusive. In law it means the command
of a court or judge (He paid alimony by court
order). The military term (usually in the plural)
describes commands or notices issued by
military authorities. It may also describe assignments
to duty stations.
In former times the wishes of the sovereign
were commands, a meaning that survives in
Britain in command performance, a theatrical
performance in response to a royal invitation.
The commands of the sovereign were often expressed
as wishes (Lr Roi le veult). Today
command usually refers to the military. It is
used in a number of senses, such as an order in
prescribed words, usually given in a loud voice
to troops at close-order drill; or it may designate
a body of troops or an area or a station
under a commander. It may also mean the possession
or exercise of controlling authority
(I’m in command here).
In one of its senses instruction, usually plural,
means an order or direction (Please read the
instructions before assembling the antenna). Direction
in one of its senses means much the
same as instruction and always appears in the
plural. It is the usual word to describe instructions
concerning the route to be taken to arrive
at a desired destination (If he follows my directions,
he can’t miss Rockefeller Center).
Directive is a new noun. It means an authoritative
instruction or direction (A directive was
issued by the Secretary of State on conduct of
Foreign Affairs Oficers).
An injunction is usually thought of in its legal
sense, which describes a judicial process or order
requiring the person or persons to whom it
is directed to do (or, more commonly, not to
do) a particular thing. However, it can be more
generally applied to mean a command, an order,
or an admonition (In spite of all injunctions of
secrecy, the news had spread).
order. The use of order in idiomatic expressions
varies sufficiently in British and American usage
to require comment. A speaker is called to order
in England when the chairman finds it necessary
to rebuke him for violating rules of procedure.
A meeting is called to order in America by the
chairman as he formally opens its proceedings.
In England in order means in accordance with
rules of parliamentary procedure. In America it
may also mean permissible, fitting, appropriate
(I hear that congratulations are in order). In
short order is an American phrase meaning immediately,
in no time. A short-order cook is one
who in lunch wagons, small restaurants, and so
on, fries eggs, hamburgers, and griddle cakes,
heats canned soup, makes coffee, and prepares
other dishes that can be made ready quickly.
From restaurant usage order has also come to
mean, in the United States, a portion of food.
When a waitress says I had those two orders of
potatoes right here on my tray she does not
mean a written order for the potatoes but the
potatoes themselves.
ordinance; ordnance; ordonnance. Ordinance in
America means an authoritative rule or law, a
decree or command, a public injunction or regulation,
usually municipal (Zt is an ordinance in
our city that residents must wrap their gnrbage).
The English equivalent is by-law. According to
Horwill, ordinance is rarely used in England except
historically (as the Self-Denying Ordinance,
an Act passed by the Long Parliament in 1644,
by which the members of Parliament bound
themselves not to accept commands in the army)
and in the phrase religious ordinances (religious
rites).
Ordnance, a variant of ordinance, has become
established in a series of special meanings. From
an ordering, supplies, it has come to mean military
supplies, primarily cannon or artillery, but
also military weapons of all kinds with their
equipments, ammunition (At three o’clock the
heavy ordnance was brought into position.
During the war he got a job in an ordnance
plant filling cartridges).
Ordonnance is also an ordering, but not of
political or religious affairs or of military equipment.
It designates the ordering, disposition, arrangement
of parts, as of a building, a picture,
or a literary composition. Coleridge speaks of
the difference between the ordonnance of poetic
composition and that of prose.
In older English writing one often finds ordonnance
used for ordinance, especially in reference
to foreign decrees and promulgations.
ordinary. See average, common, normal.
ordure. Save in a few grim humorous contexts
(such as the natural ordure of things) ordure
as a term for filth or excrement is a literary
euphemism.
Orient. See East.
orient: orientate. Both orient and orientate mean
to place so as to face the east and, by extension,
to adjust in relation to, or to bring into due relation
to, surrounding circumstances, facts, and
so on. In the United States orient is the preferred
form for all meanings. In England orientate is
still used for placing so as to face in some specific
direction, particularly to the east but orient is
used there in all figurative senses (The whole
village was oriented to gain the maximum sunlight.
As soon as the Commandos were orientated,
they began their advance along the quay.