English

Noun

order of the day ‎(plural orders of the day)

1. the business to be done by a body (such as a legislature) on a particular day; an agenda
   • 1808, From the Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, during the Hart affair; Proceedings Relating to the Expulsion of Ezekiel Hart from the House of Assembly of Lower Canada

     The order of the day for the House to resolve into a Committee of the whole, to take into further consideration, the petition of Ezekiel Hart, Esquire, being read.

2. the most significant aspect of something

   White tie and tails are the order of the day.

   • 1935, F.D.Roosevelt, Second State of the Union Address

     Throughout the world, change is the order of the day.

   • 1987, R.Reagan, Presidential Radio Address

     The ranks of political prisoners swelled into the thousands, and beatings, torture, and official murder became the order of the day.