1560s, "ordain, appoint authoritatively" (a sense now obsolete); 1590s, "direct, dispose," from Latin ordinatus, past participle of ordinare "arrange, set in order," from ordo (genitive ordinis) "row, rank, series, arrangement" (see order (n.)). Related: Ordinated; ordinating.
early 15c., "make away with money or property of another, steal," from Anglo-French enbesiler "to steal, cause to disappear" (c. 1300), from Old French em- (see en- (1)) + besillier "torment, destroy, gouge," which is of unknown origin. Sense of "dispose of fraudulently to one's own use," is first recorded 1580s. Related: Embezzled; embezzling.
1620s, transitive, "to place, set," from posture (n.). Intransitive sense of "assume a particular posture of the body, dispose the body in a particular attitude" is by 1851 (at first in reference to contortionists). The figurative sense of "take up an artificial position of the mind or character" (hence "display affectation") is attested by 1877. Related: Postured; posturing.
late 14c. (implied in configured) "to form, dispose in a certain form," from Latin configurare "to fashion after a pattern," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + figurare "to form, shape," from figura "a shape, form, figure" (from PIE root *dheigh- "to form, build"). Related: Configuring.
"to assert, lay down as a position or principle," 1690s, from Latin positus "placed, situated, standing, planted," past participle of ponere "put, place" (see position (n.)). Earlier in a literal sense of "dispose, range, place in relation to other objects" (1640s). Related: Posited; positing.
1590s, "to meet and dispose of, clear (something) out of the way," from Late Latin obviatus, past participle of obviare "act contrary to, go against," from Latin obvius "that is in the way, that moves against," from obviam (adv.) "in the way," from ob "in front of, against" (see ob-) + viam, accusative of via "way" (see via). Related: Obviated; obviating.
c. 1400, "regulate, arrange, dispose" (a sense now obsolete), from size (n.) or shortened from a verb form of assize (n.). The meaning "make of a certain size" is from c. 1600; that of "classify according to size" is attested from 1630s. The verbal phrase size up "estimate, assess, take the measure of" is from 1847 and retains the "assessment" sense of size (n.). Related: Sized; sizing.
c. 1400, ordinacioun, "divine decree;" early 15c., "arrangement, putting in order," also "the act of admitting to holy orders or the Christian ministry" (the main surviving sense), from Old French ordinacion (12c.) or directly from Latin ordinationem (nominative ordinatio) "a setting in order, ordinance," noun of action from past participle stem of ordinare "to put in order, arrange, dispose, appoint," from ordo (genitive ordinis) "row, rank, series, arrangement" (see order (n.)).
late 13c., Anglo-French, "to turn over to another," from Old French atorner "to turn, turn to, assign, attribute, dispose," from a- "to" (see ad-) + tourner "to turn," from Latin tornare "to turn on a lathe," from tornus "lathe," from Greek tornos "lathe, tool for drawing circles" (from PIE root *tere- (1) "to rub, turn"). In feudal law, "to transfer homage or allegiance to another lord."
