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Mil.Brit. /
dn
ns/, U.S. /rdnns/, /rd
ns/ Forms: ME ordinauns, ME ordonnaunce, ME ordynauns, ME-15 ordinaunce, ME-15 ordynaunce, ME-16 ordenaunce, ME-16 ordnaunce, ME- ordinance (now irreg.), ME- ordnance, 15-16 ordenance, 15-16 ordynance, 15-16 18 ordonance, 16 ornance; Sc. pre-17 ordenaunce, pre-17 ordienance, pre-17 ordinance, pre-17 ordinans, pre-17 ordince, pre-17 ordnes, pre-17 ordonnance, pre-17 ordounance, pre-17 ordynans, pre-17 ordynaunce, pre-17 17- ordnance. [Originally a variant of ORDINANCE n., now distinguished in form in the senses below: see discussion s.v.
Compare post-classical Latin ordinantia ad bellum military equipment (1460 in a British source).
Middle Eng. Dict. s.v. suggests as a slightly earlier first example Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 961, but this is elsewhere taken as showing the sense ‘governance’ (and hence ORDINANCE n. rather than the present word).]
1. Military materials, stores, or supplies; implements of war; missiles discharged in war (also in pl.). In later use usually: ammunition; missiles or bombs (chiefly U.S.).
a1393 GOWER Confessio Amantis (Fairf.)
V. 2040
ei..beholde myhte Here enemys..With al here ordinance there, Which thei ayein the Cite caste.
c1450 Siege Calais (Rome) in
PMLA (1952)
67 891 They come the tovn aboute..With gonnes grete and ordinance.
?a1475 (?
a1425) tr. R. Higden
Polychron. (Harl.) (1882) VIII. 485 His ordinaunce and trussynge cofres were taken
er.
1497 in M. Oppenheim
Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 82 By the first part is declared the..Receiptes of ordinaunces..By the secunde part is declared ordenaunces Retorned and deliuered.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. lj, Armoure, weapons, vitayle and all other ordinaunces expedient for warre.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) ix. 61 He brocht sa mony schipis to grece vitht al ordonnance.
1594 H. R. Newes Leuane Seas 17 Commaunding his Shippe to be prouided, his Nettings laced, and his Ordinance all out.
1644 J. VICARS Jehovah-Jireh 143 For hast they left their Ordnance behind them.
1736 Gentleman's Mag. 6 Aug. 443 Ordnance and Stores sent by his Majesty's Order in Council, dated April 3, 1735.
1888 Dict. National Biogr. at
Edward, Prince of Wales, They first opened fire on the enemy with ordnance and a shower of arrows.
1918 W. H. ALLEN & C. K
LEISER Stories Amer. in World War 176 Military Terms...
Ordnance
powder, shells, guns, military equipment, arsenals, armories, munition factories.
1943 C. M. B
EADNELL Encycl. Dict. Sci & War (at cited word),
Ordnance. (1) Mil.
suppliesart, ammunition, mines, torpedoes, rifles, mountings, spare parts, etc.
c1976 D. K. G
OODWIN Lyndon Johnson & Amer. Dream 285 Success was measured simply..by counting which planes and which pilots delivered the most ordnance.
1990 Soldier of Fortune Sept. 60/3 There are tons of unexploded ordnance (UXO)
bombs, rockets, grenades and
ammunitionlying about, either live or duds.
2. Artillery for discharging missiles.
a. Formerly: 
catapults, slings, bows, etc.; = ARTILLERY n. 2a (obs.). In later use: mounted guns, cannons, and other heavy firearms; = ARTILLERY n. 2b. Freq. in piece of ordnance (cf. PIECE n. 15a).
Formerly often distinguished as great or small ordnance; now usually as heavy or light ordnance.
a1450 Generides (Helm.) (1865) 7812 He purveid for maygnelles and belfrayes And othre ordinaunce at al assayes.
1497 in M. Oppenheim
Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 99 Wheles for grete ordinaunce..iiij pair.
1535 Bible (
Coverdale
)
2 Sam. xx. 15 All the people..layed to their ordynaunce, and wolde haue cast downe the wall.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. cv, Thei laied gonne against gonne,..and laied a pece of ordynaunce directly against the wyndowe.
1595 Blanchardine & Eglantine II. xiii. sig. I4, As fire giuen to the ordinance, tis to late to recall the shot.
1600 P. HOLLAND tr. Livy
Rom. Hist. XXIV. xxxiii. 532 They approched with all their fabrickes, engines, and ordinance of batterie against the walls.
1653 H. COGAN tr. F. M. Pinto
Voy. & Adventures ix. 28 Small Ordnance, as Falcones and Bases.
a1715 BP. G. BURNET Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 553 The King and the Duke came to the Tower..to see some invention about the ordinance.
1792 Deb. Congress U.S. (1849) App. 1126 He moved out with the Federal troops..together with Captain Ferguson's company of artillery, and three pieces of ordnance.
1851 Harper's Mag. Dec. 80/2 We were flanked on each shore by a crowd of desperadoes well provided with small arms, and with two or three pieces of light ordnance among them.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator III. 267 Rifled ordnance was used freely by the French in the campaign in Italy in 1859.
1925 J. CONRAD Suspense (1975)
I. i. 1 An enormous piece of ordnance that with three of its monstrous fellows squatted on the platform of the tower.
1999 F.D.C.H. Polit. Transcripts (
U.S.
)
(Nexis) 22 Sept., They argue forcefully for continued bombing and the use of light ordnance and light fire on the island.
b. Usu. in pl. A piece of ordnance for discharging missiles; a large gun. Obs.
c1450 (
c1430)
Brut (Galba) (1908) 434 And so he depertid and toke his leue oute of London with all his pepull and ordynauncis.
1480 in
10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App.
V. 315 No marchaunt..shall bryng none of the saide ordenaunces oute of no countre beyonde the see.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. clx, The Romaynes shot great ordinaunces, handgonnes, quarrels.
1626 J. SMITH Accidence Young Sea-men 24 Gunners spunge your Ordinances.
1629 J. WADSWORTH Eng. Spanish Pilgrime 35 They replying so stoutly, made our Marriners quickly..fly to their Ordnances vnderneath.
c. The artillery as a branch of the army. Obs. rare.
1665 T. MANLEY tr. H. Grotius
De Rebus Belgicis 293 Here was kill'd..Charles Levinus Famarsh, who..at this time was General of the Ordnance.
1783 W. THOMSON in R. Watson & W. Thomson
Hist. Reign Philip III VI. 442 Mansveldt marched into Bohemia, where he was..honoured with the charge of general of the ordnance.
3. The government organization, or branch of public or military service, concerned with the supply of military stores, materials, and equipment, and the management of the artillery, etc.
Freq. with capital initial, esp. in the titles of bodies responsible for ordnance, or officers belonging to these.
1485 Rolls of Parl. VI. 354/2 Maister of oure Ordinaunce and maister of oure Armery.
1548 W. PATTEN Exped. Scotl. sig. Ej
v, Syr Fraunces Flemynge knight, master of the ordinaunce.
1679 A. WOOD Life & Times (1892) II. 449 He was lieftenant of the ordinance.
1698 J. C
ROWN Caligula (front matter), To the Right Honourable Henry Earl of Rumney, Master-General of the Ordnance, Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports [etc.].
1737 J. CHAMBERLAYNE Present State Great Brit. II.
III. 117 Military Branch of the Ordnance... Gentleman of Ordnance, John Palmer.
1762 J. ROBINSON Let. 7 July in
Jenkinson Papers (1949) 42, I consulted the gentlemen about the stores required by the Ordnance for the Artillery sent.
1765 Philos. Trans. 1764 (Royal Soc.)
54 201 This gentleman thereforr is desirous of presenting a memorial to the Board of ordnance at Geneva.
1810 DUKE OF WELLINGTON in J. Gurwood
Dispatches (1838) VI. 22, I should have thought..that the Duke would have gone to the Ordnance, which he would have liked.
1863 H. COX Inst. Eng. Govt. III. viii. 710 The Master-General of the Ordnance directed..all those matters with reference to the Corps of Artillery and Engineers, which, as to the rest of the army, belonged to the Commander-in-Chief.
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 572 The Surveyor-General of the Ordnance is [
1870-87] charged with ‘providing, holding, and issuing, to all branches of the army and reserve forces, food, forage..and all other stores necessary for the efficient performance of their duties,’ etc.
1903 N.E.D. s.v.
Ordnance sb.,
Board of Ordnance, a board, partly military and partly civil, which had the management of all affairs relating to the artillery, engineers, and the matériel of the Army; it was under the direction of a Master-General, assisted by a Lieutenant-General, a Surveyor-General, a Principal Storekeeper, Clerks of the Ordnance, and various other officers. After having existed from the reign of Henry VIII, it was dissolved in 1855.
1931 Economica 32 198 Nothing was charged for this by the Board of Ordnance.
1962 J. B
ERRYMAN Stephen Crane 219 He was chief of the Bureau of Ordnance at the time of the disaster on the Princeton, February 28, 1844.
1995 Independent 17 Oct. 2/7 Thirty-five pages of documents..apparently map out five shipments from Royal Ordnance.
COMPOUNDS
C1. General attrib., as ordnance carriage, ordnance department, ordnance hospital, ordnance officer, ordnance park, ordnance stores, ordnance store-keeper, etc.
1732 L. ARMSTRONG Let. 15 Nov. in
Cal. State Papers Amer. & W. Indies (1939) 251 In case of a rupture, the four Companys at Canso..will be in great danger, having no..place of defence, or any where to lodge ammunition or ordnance stores.
1795 in Ld. Nelson
Dispatches & Lett. (1846) VII. Introd. 77 Ordnance stores for the siege, and cannoniers.
1803 DUKE OF WELLINGTON Let. to Col. Murray 30 Apr. in J. Gurwood
Dispatches (1837) I. 529 Wheels for ordnance carriages.
1812 G. CHALMERS Hist. View Domest. Econ. Great Brit. & Ireland (New ed.) 210 The most efficient measure..was to fund..the floating debts, of the victualling, and of the ordnance departments.
1841 C. J. LEVER Charles O'Malley lxxxviii. 421 In front of an old ordinance marquee.
1844 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 7 118 In a straight line to the south-western corner of the Ordnance Storekeeper's house.
1847 J. C. FRÉMONT Let. 23 Jan. in D. Jackson & M. L. Spence
Exped. J. C. Frémont (1973) II. 279, I hereby direct you to settle with W. H. Russell who discharged the duties of Ordnance Officer.
1868 Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munitions War 143 After a time these coil guns..find their way to the ordnance hospital at Woolwich.
1893 W. FORBES-MITCHELL Reminisc. Great Mutiny 146 The whole of his ordnance park, containing a large quantity of ammunition and thirty-two guns.
a1944 K. D
OUGLAS Alamein to Zem Zem (1946) i. 12 A tall Ordnance Officer..directed me to the same fifteen-hundredweight truck which had been the Orderly Room in the Training Area.
1960 H. C. T
HOMSON & L. A. M
AYO Ordnance Dept.: Procurem. & Supply xiv. 329 One of the first steps taken..was to enlist the services of George D. Edwards..as consultant to the Ordnance Department.
1993 Jrnl. Mil. Hist. 57 455 Only one such vessel was lost during the war, and she most likely was not engaged in the shipment of British naval ordnance stores at the time.
C2. Ordnance Board n. an organization responsible for the supply of military stores and equipment, a Board of Ordnance (see sense 3).
1711 SWIFT Short Char. T.E. of W. 19 He..put it out of the care of the *Ordnance Board.
1805 Ann. Reg. (Otridge's ed.) 400 The ordnance board have signified..that the warren at that place [
sc. Woolwich] is to be from this time denominated the ‘Royal Arsenal’.
1866 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 29 385 The old Ordnance Board, so mistakenly abolished, did propose the distinction being made between the cost of stores for the two services.
1996 Statist. Sci. 11 164/2 In due course my report was approved, and sent to the Ordnance Board!
ordnance datum n. the datum line to which all heights are referred in the Ordnance Survey, corresponding to mean sea level at a specified point (since 1921, Newlyn, Cornwall).
1869 J. P. K
IRKWOOD Rep. Filtration River Waters xvi. 106 The height of the full water of the reservoir is 692 feet above *ordnance datum (which assumed base is the level of low water of a 12-foot tide in Dublin harbor).
1889 G. W. U
SILL Pract. Surveying ix. 177 The ordnance datum of this country was determined by the ordnance authorities to be ‘the approximate mean water at Liverpool’.
1952 G. H. DURY Map Interpr. xvi. 191 The present Ordnance Datum is mean sea-level at Newlyn, Cornwall, that is, all heights are referred to the mean between high and low water observed at Newlyn for a number of years.
2001 Oxoniensia 65 333 The site slopes gently from W. to E. and lies at a height of 63 m. above Ordnance Datum.
ordnance map n. a map produced by the Ordnance Survey.
1828 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 118 154 Mr. Gardner (then one of the assistants on the trigonometrical survey, and now agent for the sale of the *Ordnance maps). 1835 London & Edinb. Philos. Mag. 7 49 A map is now constructing, being a precise reduction of the Ordnance Maps, extending over the greater part of ten counties. 1963 Field Archaeolog. (Ordnance Survey) (ed. 4) 127 The large scale Ordnance map.is usually informative about water features like old fish ponds and mill dams which may survive. 1994 E. MCNAMEE Resurrection Man (1998) ii. 13 There was a cellophane-wrapped ordnance map of the city above Ryan's desk.
ordnance sheet n. = ordnance map n.
1844 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc) 134 26 *Ordinance Sheet Maps, Nos. 88 and 89. 1867 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 11 124 Ordinance Sheets, 94 in number. 1982 Eng. Hist. Rev. 97 878 Many of the place-names mentioned are not marked on the one-inch Ordinance sheets.
Ordnance Survey n. Brit. (originally) the official survey of Great Britain and Ireland carried out from 1791 under the direction of the Master-General of the Ordnance; (now) an official organization which produces large-scale, detailed topographical maps of the United Kingdom (also fig).
1807 A. A
RROWSMITH Mem. Construction Map Scotl. 4, I was engaged in constructing a large Map of England on scale of one inch to three miles (following up the progress of the *Ordnance Survey, not yet quite accomplished).
1820 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.)
110 335 The Ordnance Survey of Great Britain, Part 1 to 7, comprising Essex, Devonshire, Cornwall, Dorsetshire, Sussex, Surry, [
sic] and Wiltshire.
1878 T. H. HUXLEY Physiogr. 11 Maps of the Ordnance Survey are constructed on the scale of one inch to the mile.
1934 C. LAMBERT Music Ho! 11 This book makes no attempt to be an ordnance survey of modern music.
1993 Guardian 19 Nov.
I. 18/6 The creation of executive agencies ranging from the Central Statistical Office to the Ordnance Survey are part of the same disintegrationist tendency.
Ordnance Survey map n. Brit. a map produced by the Ordnance Survey, an ordnance map.
1861 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 5 107 Among the accessions to the Library and Map Rooms since the former meeting
were..Landsberg's Map of Queensland, Australia; Continuation of *Ordnance Survey Maps, &c.
1973 Times 13 Aug. 4/1 Mounting pressure from country walkers..may save the popular 2
in. Ordnance Survey map.
2002 Focus May 86/2 The firm's Millennium Map is the first ever complete aerial survey that covers the whole of the UK... The photos are ‘geo-corrected’ for precise matching to the latest Ordnance Survey maps.
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