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definitions

ordination

[awr-dn-ey-shuh n]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ordination ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Ecclesiastical. the act or ceremony of ordaining.
the fact or state of being ordained.
a decreeing.
the act of arranging.
the resulting state; disposition; arrangement.

RELATED WORDS

investiture, installation, consecration, appointment, coronation, naming, categorization, classification, system, plan, organization, order

Origin of ordination

1350–1400; Middle English ordinacioun < Late Latin ōrdinātiō ordainment, Latin: a putting in order, appointment, equivalent to ōrdinā(re) to order, arrange (derivative of ōrdō, stem ōrdin-, order) + -tiō -tion
Related formsnon·or·di·na·tion, nounpost·or·di·na·tion, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ordination

Contemporary Examples of ordination

Historical Examples of ordination

  • Then they had gone back to their places to await the ordination.

    The Missionary

    George Griffith

  • There, indeed, lay Clarimonde, even as I had seen her at the church on the day of my ordination.

    Clarimonde

    Thophile Gautier

  • We ought to study adaptation in the selection and ordination of ruling them.

    Gathering Jewels

    James Knowles and Matilda Darroch Knowles

  • His colleague Mr. Gannett was gone to an Ordination at Buffalo.

  • At the close of the ordination the blessing from the new priest began.

    The Art of Disappearing

    John Talbot Smith

British Dictionary definitions for ordination

ordination

noun

  1. the act of conferring holy orders
  2. the reception of holy orders
the condition of being ordained or regulated
an arrangement or order
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
Word Origin and History for ordination
n.

early 15c., "the act of conferring holy orders," from Old French ordinacion (12c.) or directly from Latin ordinationem (nominative ordinatio) "a setting in order, ordinance," noun of action from past participle stem of ordinare "arrange" (see ordain).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper