Decree vs. Order — What's the Difference?

Common in divorce, property disputes.

Can be modified or rescinded.

Specifically comes from judicial authorities.

Applies in various contexts beyond the court.

Represents the final decision in legal matters.

Requires individuals to act or refrain from acting.

A formal judgment issued by a court.

Not limited to the judiciary.

Often results from litigation.

A command or directive issued by an authority.

A decree is a rule of law usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law.

The arrangement or disposition of people or things in relation to each other according to a particular sequence, pattern, or method

An authoritative order having the force of law.

An authoritative command or instruction

The judgment of a court of equity.

A particular social, political, or economic system

The judgment of a court.

A society of monks, nuns, or friars living under the same religious, moral, and social regulations and discipline

A doctrinal or disciplinary act of an ecclesiastical authority.

The quality or nature of something

An administrative act applying or interpreting articles of canon law.

A principal taxonomic category that ranks below class and above family

To order, establish, or decide by decree

Any of the five classical styles of architecture (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite) based on the proportions of columns and the style of their decoration.

To issue a decree.

Equipment or uniform for a specified purpose or of a specified type

An edict or law.

The degree of complexity of an equation, expression, etc., as denoted by an ordinal number.

(legal) The judicial decision in a litigated cause rendered by a court of equity.

Give an authoritative instruction to do something

(legal) The determination of a cause in a court of admiralty or court of probate.

Request (something) to be made, supplied, or served

(religion) A predetermination made by God; an act of providence.

Arrange (something) in a methodical way

To command by a decree.

A condition of logical or comprehensible arrangement among the separate elements of a group.

An order from one having authority, deciding what is to be done by a subordinate; also, a determination by one having power, deciding what is to be done or to take place; edict, law; authoritative ru decision.

A condition of methodical or prescribed arrangement among component parts such that proper functioning or appearance is achieved

A decision, order, or sentence, given in a cause by a court of equity or admiralty.

Condition or state in general

An edict or law made by a council for regulating any business within their jurisdiction; as, the decrees of ecclesiastical councils.

The established system of social organization

To determine judicially by authority, or by decree; to constitute by edict; to appoint by decree or law; to determine; to order; to ordain; as, a court decrees a restoration of property.

A condition in which freedom from disorder or disruption is maintained through respect for established authority

To ordain by fate.

A sequence or arrangement of successive things

To make decrees; - used absolutely.

The prescribed form or customary procedure, as in a meeting or court of law

A legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge);

An authoritative indication to be obeyed; a command or direction.

Issue a decree;

A command given by a superior military officer requiring obedience, as in the execution of a task.

Decide with authority;

Orders Formal written instructions to report for military duty at a specified time and place.

A commission or instruction to buy, sell, or supply something.

That which is supplied, bought, or sold.

A request made by a customer at a restaurant for a portion of food.

The food requested.

(Law) A directive or command of a court.

Any of several grades of the Christian ministry

Often orders The rank of an ordained Christian minister or priest.

Often orders The sacrament or rite of ordination.

Any of the nine grades or choirs of angels.

A group of persons living under a religious rule

An organization of people united by a common fraternal bond or social aim.

A group of people upon whom a government or sovereign has formally conferred honor for unusual service or merit, entitling them to wear a special insignia

The insignia worn by such people.

Often orders A social class

A class defined by the common attributes of its members; a kind.

Degree of quality or importance; rank

Any of several styles of classical architecture characterized by the type of column and entablature employed. Of the five generally accepted classical orders, the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders are Greek and the Tuscan and Composite orders are Roman.

A style of building

(Biology) A taxonomic category of organisms ranking above a family and below a class.

The sum of the exponents to which the variables in a term are raised; degree.

An indicated number of successive differentiations to be performed.

The number of elements in a finite group.

The number of rows or columns in a determinant or matrix.

To issue a command or instruction to

To direct to proceed as specified

To give a command or instruction for

To request to be supplied with

To put into a methodical, systematic arrangement

To predestine; ordain.

To give an order or orders; request that something be done or supplied.

(countable) Arrangement, disposition, or sequence.

(countable) A position in an arrangement, disposition, or sequence.

(uncountable) The state of being well arranged.

(countable) Conformity with law or decorum; freedom from disturbance; general tranquillity; public quiet.

(countable) A command.

(countable) A request for some product or service; a commission to purchase, sell, or supply goods.

(countable) A group of religious adherents, especially monks or nuns, set apart within their religion by adherence to a particular rule or set of principles.

(countable) An association of knights.

Any group of people with common interests.

(countable) A decoration, awarded by a government, a dynastic house, or a religious body to an individual, usually for distinguished service to a nation or to humanity.

A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below class and above family; a taxon at that rank.

A number of things or persons arranged in a fixed or suitable place, or relative position; a rank; a row; a grade; especially, a rank or class in society; a distinct character, kind, or sort.

(Christianity) An ecclesiastical rank or position, usually for the sake of ministry, when plural holy orders.

(architecture) The disposition of a column and its component parts, and of the entablature resting upon it, in classical architecture; hence (since the column and entablature are the characteristic features of classical architecture) a style or manner of architectural design.

(cricket) The sequence in which a side’s batsmen bat; the batting order.

(electronics) A power of polynomial function in an electronic circuit’s block, such as a filter, an amplifier, etc.

(chemistry) The overall power of the rate law of a chemical reaction, expressed as a polynomial function of concentrations of reactants and products.

(set theory) The cardinality, or number of elements in a set, group, or other structure regardable as a set.

For given group G and element g ∈ G, the smallest positive natural number n, if it exists, such that (using multiplicative notation), gⁿ = e, where e is the identity element of G; if no such number exists, the element is said to be of infinite order (or sometimes zero order).

(graph theory) The number of vertices in a graph.

(order theory) A partially ordered set.

(order theory) The relation on a partially ordered set that determines that it is, in fact, a partially ordered set.

(algebra) The sum of the exponents on the variables in a monomial, or the highest such among all monomials in a polynomial.

(finance) A written direction to furnish someone with money or property; compare money order, postal order.

(transitive) To set in some sort of order.

(transitive) To arrange, set in proper order.

(transitive) To issue a command to.

(transitive) To request some product or service; to secure by placing an order.

To admit to holy orders; to ordain; to receive into the ranks of the ministry.

Regular arrangement; any methodical or established succession or harmonious relation; method; system

Right arrangement; a normal, correct, or fit condition; as, the house is in order; the machinery is out of order.

The customary mode of procedure; established system, as in the conduct of debates or the transaction of business; usage; custom; fashion.

Conformity with law or decorum; freedom from disturbance; general tranquillity; public quiet; as, to preserve order in a community or an assembly.

That which prescribes a method of procedure; a rule or regulation made by competent authority; as, the rules and orders of the senate.

A command; a mandate; a precept; a direction.

Hence: A commission to purchase, sell, or supply goods; a direction, in writing, to pay money, to furnish supplies, to admit to a building, a place of entertainment, or the like; as, orders for blankets are large.

A number of things or persons arranged in a fixed or suitable place, or relative position; a rank; a row; a grade; especially, a rank or class in society; a group or division of men in the same social or other position; also, a distinct character, kind, or sort; as, the higher or lower orders of society; talent of a high order.

A body of persons having some common honorary distinction or rule of obligation; esp., a body of religious persons or aggregate of convents living under a common rule; as, the Order of the Bath; the Franciscan order.

An ecclesiastical grade or rank, as of deacon, priest, or bishop; the office of the Christian ministry; - often used in the plural; as, to take orders, or to take holy orders, that is, to enter some grade of the ministry.

The disposition of a column and its component parts, and of the entablature resting upon it, in classical architecture; hence (as the column and entablature are the characteristic features of classical architecture) a style or manner of architectural designing.

An assemblage of genera having certain important characters in common; as, the Carnivora and Insectivora are orders of Mammalia.

The placing of words and members in a sentence in such a manner as to contribute to force and beauty or clearness of expression.

Rank; degree; thus, the order of a curve or surface is the same as the degree of its equation.

To put in order; to reduce to a methodical arrangement; to arrange in a series, or with reference to an end. Hence, to regulate; to dispose; to direct; to rule.

To give an order to; to command; as, to order troops to advance.

To give an order for; to secure by an order; as, to order a carriage; to order groceries.

To admit to holy orders; to ordain; to receive into the ranks of the ministry.

To give orders; to issue commands.

(often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed;

A degree in a continuum of size or quantity;

Established customary state (especially of society);

Logical or comprehensible arrangement of separate elements;

A condition of regular or proper arrangement;

A legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge);

A commercial document used to request someone to supply something in return for payment and providing specifications and quantities;

A formal association of people with similar interests;

A body of rules followed by an assembly

(usually plural) the status or rank or office of a Christian clergyman in an ecclesiastical hierarchy;

A group of person living under a religious rule;

(biology) taxonomic group containing one or more families

A request for food or refreshment (as served in a restaurant or bar etc.);

(architecture) one of original three styles of Greek architecture distinguished by the type of column and entablature used or a style developed from the original three by the Romans

Putting in order;

Give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority;

Make a request for something;

Issue commands or orders for

Bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations;

Bring order to or into;

Place in a certain order;

Appoint to a clerical posts;

Arrange thoughts, ideas, temporal events, etc.;

Assign a rank or rating to;

No, not all court directives are decrees. Some are orders with temporary or specific directives that do not conclude a case.

A decree is a formal and final judicial decision in a court case, often related to family law, property disputes, and civil litigation.

Only a judge or a court can issue a decree, marking the final judgment in a legal matter.

An order is a directive issued by an authority (not limited to judicial) and can apply in various contexts, including legal, administrative, and personal.

Yes, a decree can be appealed to a higher court if parties involved believe there has been a judicial error or oversight.

Cases involving legal disputes, such as divorce, child custody, and property disputes, typically result in a decree.

Orders can be issued by various authorities, including courts, government officials, and employers, depending on the context.

Yes, orders can be issued in many contexts outside of the legal system, such as in organizational or administrative settings.

Yes, decrees are specifically related to legal cases and represent the court's final judgment.

Yes, orders carry legal authority when issued by courts or governmental bodies and must be complied with.

Yes, many orders, such as restraining orders or temporary directives, are intended to be temporary and subject to revision.

An example of a decree is a divorce decree, which legally ends a marriage and outlines the terms of the divorce.

Decrees are enforced by the legal system, and failing to comply can result in legal penalties.

An example of an order is a court order for temporary child custody arrangements during divorce proceedings.

Both decrees and orders have significant impacts on individuals' rights and obligations, requiring compliance and often leading to changes in legal status or behavior.