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)
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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.
Many Thai men also choose to temporarily ordain as monks to accumulate good karma.
From BBC • Jul. 16, 2025
It happened in the wake of Saddleback’s determination as an autonomous local church to ordain female ministers — not as senior pastors of the church, but as associate ministers of the church.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2023
It also acknowledged the need to train more Afaan Oromo speaking priests and agreed to ordain more ethnic Oromos among high ranking clergy, it said in a statement.
From Reuters • Feb. 16, 2023
The Sydney diocese does not bless same-sex marriages or ordain women as priests.
From New York Times • Sep. 1, 2022
Then Scythe Mandela said, “Ransom Paladini, we have chosen not to ordain you as a scythe. Wherever life leads you, we wish you well. You are dismissed.”
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
