Word.ws English Dictionary

ordinaunce

ordinaunce is the obsolete form of ordinance.

ordinaunce is the obsolete form of ordnance.

Meaning of ordinance

Noun

ordinance (countable and uncountable, plural ordinances)

  1. (US) A local law, passed by e.g. a city.
    • Enactive. Expositive. / Art. 57. XIII 2. The Registrative, or say Recordative: exercised, by the arrangements and operations, by which, in conformity to corresponding ordinances and mandates, the accounts, given at different periods by the exercise of the statistic function, are kept in contiguity...1830, Jeremy Bentham, Constitutional code: for the use all nations and all governments ..., volume 1, page 251
    Synonyms:
    bylaw
  2. (England) Prior to the Third English Civil War, a decree of Parliament.
  3. (Commonwealth, UK, pre-1992 universities) Detailed legislation that translates the broad principles of the university's charter and statutes into practical effect.
  4. (Hong-Kong) A law enacted by the Hong Kong Legislative Council.
  5. (India, Pakistan) A temporary legislation promulgated by the president on the recommendation of the cabinet.
  6. A religious practice or ritual prescribed by a church.

Meaning of ordnance

Noun

ordnance (countable and uncountable, plural ordnances)

  1. (collective) Military equipment, especially weapons and ammunition.
    • When the Turkes tooke Conſtantinople, they melted the Bells into Ordnance; I haue heard both Bells and Ordnance, but neuer been ſo much affected with thoſe, as with theſe Bells.1624, John Donne, chapter XVI, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, page 389
  2. Artillery.
    • Let all the Battlements their Ordinance fire, / The King shal drinke to Hamlets better breath,c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...

Forms of ordinaunce

pluralordinaunces

Questions about ordinaunce

What is ordinaunce the obsolete form of?
Ordinaunce is the obsolete form of ordinance.

Words near ordinaunce in the dictionary

  1. ordination mills
  2. ordinations
  3. ordinative
  4. ordinator
  5. ordinators
  6. ordinaunce
  7. ordinaunces
  8. ordinee
  9. ordinees
  10. ordines
  11. Ordish

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ordinaunce (page history and authors); ordinance (page history and authors); ordnance (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “ordinaunce.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ordinaunce. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.