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.] --Shak.
5. [See {Ordnance}.] Ordnance; cannon. [Obs.] --Shak.