ordain
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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)
-
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
Etymology
Origin of ordain
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ordeinen, from Old French ordener, from Latin ordināre “to order, arrange, appoint”; see ordination
Explanation
To ordain is to make someone a minister, priest, monk, or other member of the clergy. In the Catholic church, for example, a bishop ordains new priests. When you say that people have been ordained, you usually mean that they've been invested with special religion-related powers. In many Buddhist traditions, senior monks ordain new monks and, increasingly, female monks (or nuns) as well. Occasionally, this chiefly religious verb is used to mean "officially declare" or "decree" in a secular matter, as when a court ordains desegregation.
Vocabulary lists containing ordain
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (1787)
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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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.
Mormons “believe that people have the potential of becoming like God,” says Lorie Stromberg, a Mormon feminist and member of a group called Ordain Women, which advocates for gender equality in the church.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2020
Dehlin's expulsion followed that of feminist Kate Kelly, the founder of the website Ordain Women, who was excommunicated last June after Church leaders also found her guilty of apostasy.
From Reuters • Mar. 10, 2015
Dehlin said the letter he received also cites his support of Kelly's group, Ordain Women, and his criticism of the church's lack of transparency about finances.
From US News • Jan. 15, 2015
Ordain Women says The Tribune began covering it in April 2013, shortly after the group was formed, while The News did not write about it until more than five months later.
From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2014
Ordain, or-dān′, v.t. to put in order: to appoint: to dispose or regulate: to set apart for an office: to invest with ministerial functions.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
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.
