ordained

American  

[awr-deynd] / ɔrˈdeɪnd /

adjective

1. having been invested with ministerial, priestly, or rabbinical functions.

   Today’s lecturer is an ordained rabbi and a Talmudic scholar.

2. having been decreed, appointed, or formally established by some authority.

   If questioned, I will invoke my constitutionally ordained right to avoid incriminating myself.

3. having been destined or predestined.

   Cortez believed himself the ordained conqueror of the Aztec Empire.

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noun

1. Usually the ordained a person or persons who have been invested with ministerial, priestly, or rabbinical functions, or the category of those so invested.

   Christian leaders, especially the ordained, are expected to reflect and model the faith which they profess and teach.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of ordain.

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

• self-ordained adjective
• unordained adjective

Etymology

Origin of ordained

ordain ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

It’s a term embraced by some on the far-right, who see their opposition to Islam and immigrants as a divinely ordained sequel of sorts to that bloody, centuries long conflict.

From Washington Times

After Columbia, he enrolled full-time at the seminary where he was ordained, graduated in 1960 and received his doctorate in 1972.

From New York Times

At first, they said he’d never be ordained: He wasn’t Japanese.

From Seattle Times

Women cannot be ordained as deacons, priests or bishops in the Catholic Church.

From Washington Post

The destination may have been ordained, but Bresee’s path to the draft required him to navigate the unthinkable.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• appointed