predestine
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to foreordain; determine beforehand
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theol (of God) to decree from eternity (any event, esp the final salvation of individuals)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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predestinesimple
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predestinessimple
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have predestinedperfect
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has predestinedperfect
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am predestiningprogressive
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are predestiningprogressive
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is predestiningprogressive
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have been predestiningperfect progressive
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has been predestiningperfect progressive
Past
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predestinedsimple
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had predestinedperfect
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was predestiningprogressive
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were predestiningprogressive
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had been predestiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of predestine
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English predestinen, from Latin praedestināre; see pre-, destine
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.
See Examples For:
Genes do not predestine one individual to complete fewer years of schooling than another or one individual to score higher on a cognitive performance test than another.
From Scientific American ● May 26, 2022
V. impend; hang over, lie over; threaten, loom, await, come on, approach, stare one in the face; foreordain, preordain; predestine, doom, have in store for.
From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Roget, Peter Mark
There were no bits of cardboard with the names of stations printed on them to predestine our way; no baggage checks to consign our belongings to fixed destinations.
From Virginia: the Old Dominion by Hutchins, Frank W.
The face is somewhat like that young prisoner's; the same mystical, prescient melancholy in the wide eyes, as if she realized she was predestine to work woe.
From At the Mercy of Tiberius by Evans, Augusta J. (Augusta Jane)
"But to whom dost Thou predestine the honor, holiness?"
From The Pharaoh and the Priest An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt by Curtin, Jeremiah
Essentially, The Light and the Dark is a thesis novel designed to prove that a man's nature predestines his end.
From Time Magazine Archive
I answer that, Predestination is not anything in the predestined; but only in the person who predestines.
From Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
But neither of these things can be said of God when He predestines.
From Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
Therefore, predestination is in the one who predestines, and not in the predestined.
From Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
Twins are considered a blessing in Yoruba culture and their names are predestined.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
The characters’ fate is predestined by cat-and-mouse conventions, and there are no big surprises when watching the parts come together.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026
In the final scene of “Forrest Gump,” a white feather dances from Forrest’s feet, into the air, representing one of the movie’s major threads: Are life’s joys and agonies predestined, or are they indiscriminate?
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
Artificial intelligence seems predestined to become a bigger part of our lives.
From Slate ● Dec. 1, 2023
By the time we pulled into the neighborhood, the tension lay thick in the air between us, like something inevitable or predestined was finally about to happen.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
During the Reformation, John Calvin asserted that hard-earned material success was a sign of God's predestining grace, thus solidifying the religious significance of work.
From Time Magazine Archive
In China, according to Dr. Dennys, the man in the moon is called Yue-lao, and he is believed to hold in his hands the power of predestining marriages.
From Storyology Essays in Folk-Lore, Sea-Lore, and Plant-Lore by Taylor, Benjamin
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.
