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''orderly'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''orderly'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260125123911-00-⌔

orderly - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adjective

orderly (comparative more orderly, superlative most orderly)

  • Neat and tidy; possessing order.
    • ✤ He has always kept an orderly kitchen, with nothing out of place.
  • Methodical or systematic.
    • ✤ We live in an orderly universe, where rules govern both the movements of planets and the binding of molecules.
    • ✤ I will remain in post as Prime Minister until the contest is complete. And I will do everything I can to ensure an orderly handover of power.1
  • Peaceful; well-behaved.
    • ✤ An orderly gathering of citizens stood on the corner awaiting the bus.
  • Being on duty; keeping order; conveying orders.
    • ✤ aids-de-camp and orderly men2

Noun

orderly (plural orderlies)

  • A hospital attendant given a variety of non-medical duties.
  • (military) A soldier who carries out minor tasks for a superior officer.
    • ✤ Synonym: batman

Adverb

orderly (comparative more orderly, superlative most orderly)

  • (now rare) According to good order or practice; appropriately, in a well-behaved or orderly (adjective) way. [from 15th c.]
    • ✤ You are blunt; go to it orderly.3
    • ✤ Phase R: the rods are linked three by three and form planar twodimensional hexagonal networks. In both cases, the networks are orderly stacked in a three-dimensional lattice.4
    • ✤ The rectangles are orderly stacked with the topmost rectangle representing the most visible entity and subsequent rectangles representing entities underneath the mouse cursor, front to back.5
  • (obsolete) In order; in a particular order or succession; with a suitable arrangement. [15th–19th c.]
    • ✤ The earth from heaven, the sea from earth, he parted orderly,/And from the thicke and foggie ayre, he tooke the lightsome skie.6
    • ✤ Thus orderly marshaled, they take their course and swim whither their journey tends, as broad and wide behind as before […].7
    • ✤ And in the Tombe which is an arch made of mats, they lay them orderly.8

Etymology

From order + -ly.

Pronunciation

  • (General American) IPA: /ˈɔɹdɚli/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈɔːdəli/
  • Audio (US): 🔊
  • Hyphenation: or‧der‧ly

Printed 2026-06-28.

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Footnotes

  1. 2026 June 22, Keir Starmer, resignation speech ‎: ↩

  2. 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC: ↩

  3. c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]: ↩

  4. 1991, Chor-San Heng Khoo, Physics of Liquid Crystalline Materials, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 33: ↩

  5. 2014, Huei-Huang Lee, Finite Element Simulations with ANSYS Workbench 15: Theory, Applications, Case Studies, SDC Publications, →ISBN, page 191: ↩

  6. 1567, Ovid, translated by Arthur Golding, Metamorphoses, section I: ↩

  7. 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC: ↩

  8. 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 149: ↩

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Secondary

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