Synonyms

ordain

American

[awr-deyn] / ɔrˈdeɪn /

verb (used with object)

to invest with ministerial, priestly, or rabbinical functions.
to enact or establish by law, edict, etc..

to ordain a new type of government.
to decree; give orders for.

He ordained that the restrictions were to be lifted.

Synonyms:

determine, prescribe, order
(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.
to select for or appoint to an office.
to invest someone with sacerdotal functions.

ordain British

/ ɔːˈdeɪn /

verb

to consecrate (someone) as a priest; confer holy orders upon
(may take a clause as object) to decree, appoint, or predestine irrevocably
(may take a clause as object) to order, establish, or enact with authority
obsolete to select for an office

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

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.

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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.

See Examples For:

ordain ordains ordained ordaining

In 2008, it voted to ordain women as bishops, and many recent meetings have included discussion of same-sex marriages.

From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2025

“The power to ‘define a crime and ordain its punishment’ is an exclusively legislative function,” the justices wrote.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 11, 2024

But first they would ordain, for a time, as a Buddhist monk and nun.

From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2023

The SBC ousted Saddleback Church in Costa Mesa, once the second-largest megachurch in the denomination, earlier this year over its decision to ordain female pastors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2023

Having had their final test the evening before, there was nothing left but to ordain them.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

For now, the government seems confident that experts can indeed devise a safe, rigorous and consistent system for deciding which patients live and which ones die, as the statute ordains.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 16, 2021

Some are even considering leaving the Catholic Church to join other communities, including a movement that ordains women priests.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2021

It also suggested that future appointments might be influenced by a bishop's views on women clergy, saying that "many dioceses will want to insist that their diocesan bishop should be someone who ordains women".

From Reuters ● May 24, 2013

Her writing has always been hostile to the idea of a primitive, “natural” womanhood that ordains us to behave in certain ways.

From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2012

I bent above each one, and gently said: ‘Wake from your sleep: no more sweet slumber. Come, we sail: the Lady Kirke so ordains it.’

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

The Chosen Ones Espenson cites are part of a destiny ordained either by their bloodline or some greater lineage.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

On Tuesday, the San Diego County district attorney’s office announced its decision to pursue capital punishment against Leticia McCormack, who was an ordained elder and youth minister at a San Diego church.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Menjivar-Ayala, who is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian, was ordained as a priest in 2004 and became a bishop in 2023.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

It is impossible to prove whether such incidents were ordained or carried out by Chinese government authorities.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026

The second son was ordained at the age of seventeen, and by the time he was twenty had achieved an awesome reputation as a Talmudist.

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok

But ordaining bishops without the Pope's consent is regarded as a serious violation of the unity of the Church.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

In 1988, Pope John Paul II issued a similar appeal to that of Pope Leo but failed to stop the society from ordaining bishops.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

In 1787-91, Americans dramatically strengthened their union by ordaining a new-minted document, the Constitution, which repeatedly referred to American citizenship.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2025

And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the ”Constitution” was "to form a more perfect Union."

From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2023

This is that same William Marks who after this testimony became the associate of James J. Strang and subsequently was the chief man in ordaining "young Joseph" to be President of the church.

From Succession in the Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by B. H. Roberts

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023