ordination

American  

[awr-dn-ey-shuhn] / ˌɔr dnˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. Ecclesiastical. the act or ceremony of ordaining.

2. the fact or state of being ordained.

3. a decreeing.

4. the act of arranging.

5. the resulting state; disposition; arrangement.

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ordination British  

/ ˌɔːdɪˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. 1. the act of conferring holy orders

   2. the reception of holy orders

2. the condition of being ordained or regulated

3. an arrangement or order

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Other Word Forms

• nonordination
  noun
• postordination
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ordination

1350–1400; Middle English ordinacioun < Late Latin ōrdinātiō ordainment, Latin: a putting in order, appointment, equivalent to ōrdinā(re) to order, arrange (derivative of ōrdō, stem ōrdin-, order) + -tiō -tion

Explanation

What an inauguration is to a president, an ordination is to a religious authority. It's the ceremony of bestowing a person with a position of religious authority — as when someone becomes a priest, minister, or shaman. The noun ordination comes from the Latin word ordinare, meaning “put in order.” Becoming a religious leader usually requires training in a seminary followed by an ordination. On the other hand, the ordination of a monarch is a ceremony in which a King’s or Queen’s divine right to rule the country, which was historically considered a birth right, is asserted and initiated without any seminary courses required.

Example Sentences

She returned to the Women’s Ordination Conference as national coordinator in 1985 and stayed for a decade before once again focusing on pursuits involving liberation theology.

From New York Times • Jul. 11, 2023

The US-based Women's Ordination Conference, which advocates for women priests, has called the reform "a significant crack in the stained glass ceiling".

From BBC • Apr. 26, 2023

Others were more critical, including Kate McElwee, executive director of the U.S.-based Women’s Ordination Conference, which seeks to enable women to be ordained as Catholic priests.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 31, 2022

The Women’s Ordination Conference, a Washington D.C.-based group advocating for “feminist voice for women in the Roman Catholic Church,” said it “welcomes” the commission’s formation.

From Washington Times • Apr. 8, 2020

But as I was hunting with the College drag at the hour when I ought to have been in for my Ordination Examination, the Bishop failed to see matters in the same light.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93, December 3, 1887 by Various