holy orders
Americannoun
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(used with a singular verb) the rite or sacrament of ordination.
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(used with a singular verb) the rank or status of an ordained Christian minister.
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(used with a plural verb) the major degrees or grades of the Christian ministry.
plural noun
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the sacrament or rite whereby a person is admitted to the Christian ministry
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the grades of the Christian ministry
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the rank or status of an ordained Christian minister
Etymology
Origin of holy orders
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
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.
A bitter man, George Tennyson had been disinherited by his own father and forced into holy orders.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
“His vocation is the holy orders in which he promised obedience, he vowed obedience to his bishop and his bishop’s successors,” she said.
From Washington Times • Dec. 22, 2022
It's not holy orders, nor is it being a Mafia "made man".
From Economist • Nov. 26, 2012
A Renaissance humanist but also a disciple of the sin-obsessed Savonarola, he abandoned art as corruptingly worldly after taking holy orders, then picked it up again, using it as a vehicle for spiritual exploration.
From New York Times • Oct. 11, 2012
For the rest of his life he was thoroughly cosmopolitan, travelling widely, living for twenty years in Weimar, and for six years near Rome, where he took holy orders.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
