predestine
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to foreordain; determine beforehand
-
theol (of God) to decree from eternity (any event, esp the final salvation of individuals)
Other Word Forms
- predestinable adjective
Etymology
Origin of predestine
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English predestinen, from Latin praedestināre; 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.
For a kid from Kingsley, Iowa — a town of 1,411 with the motto, “Some bigger, none better” — this was a profitable, often predestined path.
From Seattle Times
According to her, the wait was long for her own Air Jordan, and for the collaboration to launch the same year as the release of “A Thousand and One” seemed predestined.
From New York Times
In a meeting that seems almost predestined, the pair are now sharing a stage in Thomas Bradshaw’s “The Seagull/Woodstock, NY,” a New Group production in previews at the Pershing Square Signature Center.
From New York Times
It’s hard to deny that a Callas-Bellucci pairing feels like it was predestined.
From New York Times
Others adamantly disagree, taking exception to the suggestion that a Black coach should take a lesser position, especially one in which he seems predestined to fail.
From Washington Post
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.
