foreordain

American  

[fawr-awr-deyn, fohr-] / ˌfɔr ɔrˈdeɪn, ˌfoʊr- /

verb (used with object)

1. to ordain or appoint beforehand.

2. to predestine; predetermine.

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foreordain British  

/ ˌfɔːrɔːˈdeɪn, ˌfɔːrɔːdɪˈneɪʃən /

verb

1. (tr; may take a clause as object) to determine (events, results, etc) in the future

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Other Word Forms

• foreordainment noun

Etymology

Origin of foreordain

First recorded in 1400–50, foreordain is from the late Middle English word forordeinen. See fore-, ordain

Example Sentences

How funny it would be if his biggest hit song ever was the one he didn’t foreordain at all?

From Slate • Jul. 27, 2018

But it does not foreordain that they will be incapable of finding common ground, or that the current period of intense partisanship will go on forever.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 25, 2018

To others, it celebrated the ability of Mr. Burden, whose very surname seemed to foreordain a life of professional dolor, to inscribe himself indelibly into his own work, as artists from J.S.

From New York Times • May 11, 2015

V. impend; hang over, lie over; threaten, loom, await, come on, approach, stare one in the face; foreordain, preordain; predestine, doom, have in store for.

From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Roget, Peter Mark

That a ruler may secretly will, purpose, decree, foreordain, that his, subjects shall act in a certain way.

From The Calvinistic Doctrine of Predestination Examined and Refuted by Hodgson, F. (Francis)