ordain
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.
(of God, fate, etc.) to destine or predestine: Fate had ordained the meeting.
to order or command: Thus do the gods ordain.
to select for or appoint to an office.
to invest someone with sacerdotal functions.
Origin of ordain
1Other words for ordain
Other words from ordain
- or·dain·a·ble, adjective
- or·dain·er, noun
- or·dain·ment, noun
- re·or·dain, verb (used with object)
- self-or·dain·er, noun
- su·per·or·dain, verb (used without object)
- un·or·dain·a·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use ordain in a sentence
Its communication or ordainment might be ascribed to a God or a divine King.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II) | Henry Osborn TaylorThe prince gave ear to the argument from pre-ordainment, and as she was a very lovely maiden he took her too in lawful marriage.
The Brown Fairy Book | Andrew Lang
British Dictionary definitions for ordain
/ (ɔːˈdeɪn) /
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
Origin of ordain
1Derived forms of ordain
- ordainer, noun
- ordainment, noun
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
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