Order vs. Request — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on December 22, 2023
Order often implies a command or authoritative direction, while Request suggests a polite or formal appeal for something.
Difference Between Order and Request
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Order carries a sense of authority and expectation of compliance. Request is more about seeking permission or favor, often politely.
Order is common in military, legal, and business environments where authority is exercised. Request is used in more varied contexts, often where negotiation or persuasion is involved.
Order implies less choice for the recipient, often requiring obedience. Request implies more choice, allowing the recipient to agree or decline.
Order often reflects a hierarchical relationship, with one party having clear authority. Request suggests a more equal standing, or at least a respect for the recipient’s autonomy.
Order can have legal implications, as in court orders, where non-compliance has consequences. Request, while it can be formal, typically lacks legal enforcement.
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Comparison Chart
Authority Level
High, commanding
Polite, asking
Context
Military, legal, business
General, varied contexts
Recipient's Choice
Limited, expected to comply
Has the option to agree or decline
Relationship
Hierarchical, authoritative
Equal, respectful
Legal Implications
Often legally binding
Typically not legally enforceable
Compare with Definitions
Order
Ommand: An order is a directive that requires obedience.
The general gave an order to retreat.
Request
Inquiry for Information: A request can be an inquiry or solicitation for information.
She submitted a request for the report details.
Order
Legal Directive: In legal terms, an order is a directive from a court or authority.
The court issued an order for his arrest.
Request
Polite Ask: A request is a polite or formal appeal for something.
She made a request for additional resources on the project.
Order
Purchasing Request: In commerce, an order is a request to purchase something.
She placed an order for a new laptop online.
Request
Invitation or Suggestion: Request can be used to invite or suggest something in a polite way.
They sent out a request for proposals to several vendors.
Order
State of Organization: Order can refer to a state of proper arrangement or functioning.
He kept his office in perfect order.
Request
Petition or Appeal: In formal settings, a request can be a petition or appeal.
The council received a request to review the decision.
Order
The arrangement or disposition of people or things in relation to each other according to a particular sequence, pattern, or method
I filed the cards in alphabetical order
Request
Seeking Permission: Request often implies seeking permission.
He sent a request to his manager for leave.
Order
An authoritative command or instruction
He was not going to take orders from a mere administrator
The skipper gave the order to abandon ship
Request
An act of asking politely or formally for something
A request for information
The club's excursion was postponed at the request of some of the members
Order
A particular social, political, or economic system
They were dedicated to overthrowing the established order
Request
Politely or formally ask for
The chairman requested that the reports be considered
He received the information he had requested
Order
Arrangement or Sequence: Order can refer to a specific arrangement or sequence.
The books were arranged in alphabetical order.
Request
To express a desire for, especially politely; ask for. Often used with an infinitive or clause
Requested information about the experiment.
Requested to see the evidence firsthand.
Requested that the bus driver stop at the next corner.
Order
A society of monks, nuns, or friars living under the same religious, moral, and social regulations and discipline
The Franciscan Order
Request
To ask (a person) to do something
The police requested her to accompany them.
Order
The quality or nature of something
Poetry of the highest order
Request
An act of asking for something.
Order
A principal taxonomic category that ranks below class and above family
The higher orders of insects
Request
Something asked for
Wasn't happy until he got his request.
Order
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.
Request
To ask for (something).
The corporal requested reinforcements.
I have requested that the furniture be moved back to its original position.
Order
Equipment or uniform for a specified purpose or of a specified type
The platoon changed from drill order into PT kit
Request
(transitive) To ask (somebody) to do something.
She called me into her office and requested me to sit down.
Order
The degree of complexity of an equation, expression, etc., as denoted by an ordinal number.
Request
Act of requesting (with the adposition at in the presence of possessives, and on in their absence).
Order
Give an authoritative instruction to do something
The judge ordered a retrial
She ordered me to leave
‘Stop frowning,’ he ordered
He ordered that the ship be abandoned
Request
A formal message requesting something.
Order
Request (something) to be made, supplied, or served
My mate ordered the tickets last week
I asked the security guard to order me a taxi
Are you ready to order, sir?
Request
Condition of being sought after.
Order
Arrange (something) in a methodical way
Her normally well-ordered life
All entries are ordered by date
Request
(networking) A message sent over a network to a server.
The server returned a 404 error to the HTTP request.
Order
A condition of logical or comprehensible arrangement among the separate elements of a group.
Request
(obsolete) That which is asked for or requested.
Order
A condition of methodical or prescribed arrangement among component parts such that proper functioning or appearance is achieved
Checked to see that the shipping department was in order.
Request
The act of asking for anything desired; expression of desire or demand; solicitation; prayer; petition; entreaty.
I will marry her, sir, at your request.
Order
Condition or state in general
The escalator is in good working order.
Request
That which is asked for or requested.
I will both hear and grant you your requests.
Order
The established system of social organization
"Every revolution exaggerates the evils of the old order" (C. Wright Mills).
Request
A state of being desired or held in such estimation as to be sought after or asked for; demand.
Knowledge and fame were in as great request as wealth among us now.
Order
A condition in which freedom from disorder or disruption is maintained through respect for established authority
Finally restored order in the rebellious provinces.
Request
To ask for (something); to express desire ffor; to solicit; as, to request his presence, or a favor.
Order
A sequence or arrangement of successive things
Changed the order of the files.
Request
To address with a request; to ask.
I request youTo give my poor host freedom.
Order
The prescribed form or customary procedure, as in a meeting or court of law
The bailiff called the court to order.
Request
A formal message requesting something that is submitted to an authority
Order
An authoritative indication to be obeyed; a command or direction.
Request
The verbal act of requesting
Order
A command given by a superior military officer requiring obedience, as in the execution of a task.
Request
Express the need or desire for; ask for;
She requested an extra bed in her room
She called for room service
Order
Orders Formal written instructions to report for military duty at a specified time and place.
Request
Ask (a person) to do something;
She asked him to be here at noon
I requested that she type the entire manuscript
Order
A commission or instruction to buy, sell, or supply something.
Request
Inquire for (information);
I requested information from the secretary
Order
That which is supplied, bought, or sold.
Order
A request made by a customer at a restaurant for a portion of food.
Order
The food requested.
Order
(Law) A directive or command of a court.
Order
Any of several grades of the Christian ministry
The order of priesthood.
Order
Often orders The rank of an ordained Christian minister or priest.
Order
Often orders The sacrament or rite of ordination.
Order
Any of the nine grades or choirs of angels.
Order
A group of persons living under a religious rule
Order of Saint Benedict.
Order
An organization of people united by a common fraternal bond or social aim.
Order
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 Order of the Garter.
Order
The insignia worn by such people.
Order
Often orders A social class
The lower orders.
Order
A class defined by the common attributes of its members; a kind.
Order
Degree of quality or importance; rank
Poetry of a high order.
Order
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.
Order
A style of building
A cathedral of the Gothic order.
Order
(Biology) A taxonomic category of organisms ranking above a family and below a class.
Order
The sum of the exponents to which the variables in a term are raised; degree.
Order
An indicated number of successive differentiations to be performed.
Order
The number of elements in a finite group.
Order
The number of rows or columns in a determinant or matrix.
Order
To issue a command or instruction to
Ordered the sailors to stow their gear.
Order
To direct to proceed as specified
Ordered the intruders off the property.
Order
To give a command or instruction for
The judge ordered a recount of the ballots.
Order
To request to be supplied with
Order eggs and bacon for breakfast.
Order
To put into a methodical, systematic arrangement
Ordered the books on the shelf.
Order
To predestine; ordain.
Order
To give an order or orders; request that something be done or supplied.
Order
(countable) Arrangement, disposition, or sequence.
Put the children in age order
It's arranged in order of frequency
Order
(countable) A position in an arrangement, disposition, or sequence.
Order
(uncountable) The state of being well arranged.
The house is in order; the machinery is out of order.
Order
(countable) Conformity with law or decorum; freedom from disturbance; general tranquillity; public quiet.
To preserve order in a community or an assembly
Order in the court!
Order
(countable) A command.
Give an order
His inability to follow orders
Order
(countable) A request for some product or service; a commission to purchase, sell, or supply goods.
Make an order
Receive an online order for the new range of sunglasses
Order
(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.
St. Ignatius Loyola founded the Jesuit order in 1537.
Order
(countable) An association of knights.
The Order of the Garter, the Order of the Bath.
Order
Any group of people with common interests.
Order
(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.
Order
A category in the classification of organisms, ranking below class and above family; a taxon at that rank.
The magnolia and nutmeg families belong to the order Magnoliales.
Order
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.
The higher or lower orders of society
Talent of a high order
Order
(Christianity) An ecclesiastical rank or position, usually for the sake of ministry, when plural holy orders.
There have been many major and minor orders in the history of Christianity: the order of virgins, of deacons, priests, lectors, acolytes, porters, catechists, widows, etc.
To take orders or holy orders means to be ordained a deacon or priest
Order
(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.
Order
(cricket) The sequence in which a side’s batsmen bat; the batting order.
Order
(electronics) A power of polynomial function in an electronic circuit’s block, such as a filter, an amplifier, etc.
A 3-stage cascade of a 2nd-order bandpass Butterworth filter
Order
(chemistry) The overall power of the rate law of a chemical reaction, expressed as a polynomial function of concentrations of reactants and products.
Order
(set theory) The cardinality, or number of elements in a set, group, or other structure regardable as a set.
Order
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).
Order
(graph theory) The number of vertices in a graph.
Order
(order theory) A partially ordered set.
Order
(order theory) The relation on a partially ordered set that determines that it is, in fact, a partially ordered set.
Order
(algebra) The sum of the exponents on the variables in a monomial, or the highest such among all monomials in a polynomial.
A quadratic polynomial, is said to be of order (or degree) 2.
Order
(finance) A written direction to furnish someone with money or property; compare money order, postal order.
Order
(transitive) To set in some sort of order.
We need to order them alphabetically.
Order
(transitive) To arrange, set in proper order.
The books in the shelf need ordering.
Order
(transitive) To issue a command to.
To order troops to advance
He ordered me to leave.
I hate being ordered around by my co-workers.
Order
(transitive) To request some product or service; to secure by placing an order.
You can now order most products to be delivered to your home.
To order groceries
To order food from a restaurant
Order
To admit to holy orders; to ordain; to receive into the ranks of the ministry.
Order
Regular arrangement; any methodical or established succession or harmonious relation; method; system
The side chambers were . . . thirty in order.
Bright-harnessed angels sit in order serviceable.
Good order is the foundation of all good things.
Order
Right arrangement; a normal, correct, or fit condition; as, the house is in order; the machinery is out of order.
Order
The customary mode of procedure; established system, as in the conduct of debates or the transaction of business; usage; custom; fashion.
And, pregnant with his grander thought,Brought the old order into doubt.
Order
Conformity with law or decorum; freedom from disturbance; general tranquillity; public quiet; as, to preserve order in a community or an assembly.
Order
That which prescribes a method of procedure; a rule or regulation made by competent authority; as, the rules and orders of the senate.
The church hath authority to establish that for an order at one time which at another time it may abolish.
Order
A command; a mandate; a precept; a direction.
Upon this new fright, an order was made by both houses for disarming all the papists in England.
Order
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.
In those days were pit orders - beshrew the uncomfortable manager who abolished them.
Order
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.
They are in equal order to their several ends.
Various orders various ensigns bear.
Which, to his order of mind, must have seemed little short of crime.
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.
Find a barefoot brother out,One of our order, to associate me.
The venerable order of the Knights Templars.
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.
Order
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.
Order
An assemblage of genera having certain important characters in common; as, the Carnivora and Insectivora are orders of Mammalia.
Order
The placing of words and members in a sentence in such a manner as to contribute to force and beauty or clearness of expression.
Order
Rank; degree; thus, the order of a curve or surface is the same as the degree of its equation.
Whiles I take order for mine own affairs.
Order
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 him that ordereth his conversation aright.
Warriors old with ordered spear and shield.
Order
To give an order to; to command; as, to order troops to advance.
Order
To give an order for; to secure by an order; as, to order a carriage; to order groceries.
Order
To admit to holy orders; to ordain; to receive into the ranks of the ministry.
These ordered folk be especially titled to God.
Persons presented to be ordered deacons.
Order
To give orders; to issue commands.
Order
(often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed;
The British ships dropped anchor and waited for orders from London
Order
A degree in a continuum of size or quantity;
It was on the order of a mile
An explosion of a low order of magnitude
Order
Established customary state (especially of society);
Order ruled in the streets
Law and order
Order
Logical or comprehensible arrangement of separate elements;
We shall consider these questions in the inverse order of their presentation
Order
A condition of regular or proper arrangement;
He put his desk in order
The machine is now in working order
Order
A legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge);
A friend in New Mexico said that the order caused no trouble out there
Order
A commercial document used to request someone to supply something in return for payment and providing specifications and quantities;
IBM received an order for a hundred computers
Order
A formal association of people with similar interests;
He joined a golf club
They formed a small lunch society
Men from the fraternal order will staff the soup kitchen today
Order
A body of rules followed by an assembly
Order
(usually plural) the status or rank or office of a Christian clergyman in an ecclesiastical hierarchy;
Theologians still disagree over whether `bishop' should or should not be a separate order
Order
A group of person living under a religious rule;
The order of Saint Benedict
Order
(biology) taxonomic group containing one or more families
Order
A request for food or refreshment (as served in a restaurant or bar etc.);
I gave the waiter my order
Order
(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
Order
Putting in order;
There were mistakes in the ordering of items on the list
Order
Give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority;
I said to him to go home
She ordered him to do the shopping
The mother told the child to get dressed
Order
Make a request for something;
Order me some flowers
Order a work stoppage
Order
Issue commands or orders for
Order
Bring into conformity with rules or principles or usage; impose regulations;
We cannot regulate the way people dress
This town likes to regulate
Order
Bring order to or into;
Order these files
Order
Place in a certain order;
Order these files
Order
Appoint to a clerical posts;
He was ordained in the Church
Order
Arrange thoughts, ideas, temporal events, etc.;
Arrange my schedule
Set up one's life
I put these memories with those of bygone times
Order
Assign a rank or rating to;
How would you rank these students?
The restaurant is rated highly in the food guide
Common Curiosities
Do orders imply urgency?
Often, yes. Orders usually carry a sense of urgency and importance.
Can an order be refused?
It depends on the context, but generally, orders in a hierarchical setting are expected to be followed.
Can requests be anonymous?
Yes, requests can be made anonymously, especially in formal or public contexts.
Is a request always polite?
Typically, yes. Requests are usually framed politely.
Can a request be informal?
Yes, requests can range from informal to formal.
Is it rude to decline a request?
Not necessarily. It depends on how the decline is communicated and the context.
Are court orders optional?
No, court orders are legally binding and must be followed.
Are orders only given in the military?
No, orders can be given in various contexts like businesses, legal settings, and more.
Is an order more formal than a request?
Orders tend to be more formal and authoritative, while requests are more about seeking consent.
Does an order always mean a command?
In most contexts, yes. It generally implies a directive that should be followed.
Are purchase orders legally binding?
In business, purchase orders can be considered contracts and are thus binding.
Can a request be urgent?
Yes, a request can be urgent, but it still maintains a tone of asking rather than demanding.
Can a request be written or verbal?
Requests can be both written and verbal.
Can a request lead to legal action if not fulfilled?
Generally, no, unless it's a formal legal request or subpoena.
Do all orders come from a higher authority?
Typically, yes, especially in hierarchical organizations.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
