ORDINARY(NOUN)

n. At common law. One who has exempt and immediate jurisdiction In causes ecclesiastical. Also a bishop; and an archbishop is the ordinary of the whole province, to visit and receive appeals from inferior jurisdictions. Also a commissary or official of a bishop or other ecclesiastical judge having judicial power; an archdeacon; officer of the royal household. Wharton. In American law. A judicial officer, in several of the states, clothed by statute with powers In regard to wills, probate, administration, guardianship, etc. In Scotch law. A single judge of the court of session, who decides with or without a jury, as the case may be. Brande. In the civil law. A judge who has authority to take cognizance of causes in his own right, and not by deputation. Murden i. Beath, 1 Mill, Const. (S. C.) 269. Ordinary of Newgate. The clergyman who is attendant upon condemned malefactors in that prison .to prepare them for death; he records the behavior of such persons. Formerly it was the custom of the ordinary to publish a small pamphlet upon the execution of any remarkable criminal. Wharton. Ordinary of assise and sessions. In old English law. A deputy of the bishop of the diocese, anciently appointed to give malefactors their neck-verses, and judge whether they read or not; also to perform divine services for them, and assist in preparing them for death. Wharton.