ordained
Americanadjective
-
having been invested with ministerial, priestly, or rabbinical functions.
Today’s lecturer is an ordained rabbi and a Talmudic scholar.
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having been decreed, appointed, or formally established by some authority.
If questioned, I will invoke my constitutionally ordained right to avoid incriminating myself.
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having been destined or predestined.
Cortez believed himself the ordained conqueror of the Aztec Empire.
noun
verb
Usage
What does ordained mean? Ordained is an adjective that means having gained official status as a priest, minister, or other religious authority through a sanctioned process. Ordained is also the past tense of the verb ordain, meaning to invest someone with such authority. It has several other more general meanings, including to order, command, decree, or destine. The process or ceremony in which a priest or minister is ordained is called ordination. Example: Only an ordained minister can perform the ceremony.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ordained
Explanation
Ordained means invested with the authority to act as a priest. Once you are ordained as a priest, you are ready to take over that little country church and start tending to the flock. Ordained comes from the root meaning "order," and when you are ordained, you're brought into the religious order, or group of church leaders. We also use ordained for declarations. If it has been ordained that all people must now wear plastic birds in their hair, then that new fashion command has been declared by an authority. Sometimes people talk about fate as "what has been ordained."
Vocabulary lists containing ordained
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act IV
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The Call of the Wild
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"Tinker v. Des Moines": Excerpts from Justice Fortas's Opinion
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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.
A graduate of the Congregationalist Yale College, Ogilvie was ordained in England and served as an Anglican missionary in Virginia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Among the most influential voices leading the intellectual pushback to Project Spire now is Lord Nigel Biggar, an ordained Church of England priest and a former Christian ethics academic at Oxford University.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 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
Forer is an ordained rabbi who mentors clerks and others entering the legal field.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
It isn’t that every atom in the sample will exist for exactly 30 seconds or 60 seconds or 90 seconds or some other tidily ordained period.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
