ordain
Americanverb (used with object)
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ordainsimple
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ordainssimple
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have ordainedperfect
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has ordainedperfect
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am ordainingprogressive
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are ordainingprogressive
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is ordainingprogressive
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have been ordainingperfect progressive
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has been ordainingperfect progressive
Past
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ordainedsimple
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had ordainedperfect
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was ordainingprogressive
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were ordainingprogressive
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had been ordainingperfect progressive
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.
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.
Dehlin said the letter he received also cites his support of Kelly's group, Ordain Women, and his criticism of the church's lack of transparency about finances.
From US News • Jan. 15, 2015
Kate Kelly, founder of the Ordain Women movement within the Mormon church, was excommunicated for advocating for women in the priesthood.
From Washington Post • Dec. 19, 2014
Kelly's group, Ordain Women, said the statement was "an improvement in transparency," but denied the group acted against the church, taught false doctrine or committed apostasy.
From Reuters • Jun. 30, 2014
Last year, Kelly helped found Ordain Women, a group that seeks gender equality and women's ordination to the priesthood.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2014
Ordain, then, for them every good conceived by Thee and predestined in Thy Book.
From Prayers and Meditations by Bahá'u'lláh
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.
