word order

noun

: the order or arrangement of words in a phrase, clause, or sentence

Examples of word order in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The old models—LSTMs and RNNs—had word order implicitly built into the models. Haomiao Huang, Ars Technica, 30 Jan. 2023 Nordlinger had always argued that many Australian languages had free word order, unlike other languages. Christine Kenneally, Scientific American, 17 Oct. 2023 Na’vi word order is very flexible). Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2022 Applying biology techniques to linguistics, the team built an evolutionary tree of word order. Veronique Greenwood, Discover Magazine, 15 Apr. 2011 There is no need to specify the subject, or even to keep to a strict word order. Han Kang, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2023 This revealed the importance of word order, word meaning, and word combinations in the final product—otherwise reframed as the impact of signal motif identity, function and arrangement on T cell phenotype. William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2023 Research published in April suggests that some language rules, like word order, are culturally based and must be learned. Joseph Castro, Discover Magazine, 27 June 2011 These gestural communication systems often display language-like structures such as a stable vocabulary and consistent word order. Grace Neveu, Discover Magazine, 25 July 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'word order.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of word order was in 1872

Dictionary Entries Near word order

Cite this Entry

“Word order.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/word%20order. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

word order

noun
: the order or arrangement of words in a phrase, clause, or sentence

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