An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Orden

by Friedrich Kluge

Orden, masculine, ‘order, class, badge,’ from Middle High German orden, masculine, ‘rule, regulation, series, management, decree, rank, spiritual order’; borrowed from Latin ordin-em (accusative of ordo), even in the Old High German period; compare Old High German ordina, feminine, whence ordinhaft. The oblique case of the Latin word determined the form of the Old High German term; so too in Kreuz, Abt, &c. —