ordain
Americanverb (used with object)
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to invest with ministerial, priestly, or rabbinical functions.
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to enact or establish by law, edict, etc..
to ordain a new type of government.
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to decree; give orders for.
He ordained that the restrictions were to be lifted.
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(of God, fate, etc.) to destine or predestine.
Fate had ordained the meeting.
- Synonyms:
- predetermine
verb (used without object)
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to order or command.
Thus do the gods ordain.
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to select for or appoint to an office.
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to invest someone with sacerdotal functions.
verb
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to consecrate (someone) as a priest; confer holy orders upon
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(may take a clause as object) to decree, appoint, or predestine irrevocably
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(may take a clause as object) to order, establish, or enact with authority
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obsolete to select for an office
Other Word Forms
- ordainable adjective
- ordainer noun
- ordainment noun
- reordain verb (used with object)
- self-ordainer noun
- superordain verb (used without object)
- unordainable adjective
Etymology
Origin of ordain
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ordeinen, from Old French ordener, from Latin ordināre “to order, arrange, appoint”; ordination
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She was still performing that role when she was ordained as a priest in 2002 and became the first female Bishop of London in 2018.
From BBC
Dame Sarah, who was chief nursing officer in England before she was ordained, has also invited NHS nurses and carers working in hospitals and hospices in Canterbury to attend the ceremony.
From BBC
I still had a great deal of little-sister worship for this big brother, five years older than I, an ordained minister and the only ten Boom who had ever been to college.
From Literature
His wife Oluremi is a Christian who is an ordained pastor.
From BBC
A gifted public speaker, the ordained minister was known for fiery rhetoric, often advocating for the interests of working people, especially minorities.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
