preordain

[pree-awr-deyn]

verb (used with object)

1. to ordain beforehand; foreordain.

preordain

/ ˌpriːɔːdɪˈneɪʃən, ˌpriːɔːˈdeɪn /

verb

1. (tr) to ordain, decree, or appoint beforehand

Other Word Forms

• preordination noun
• unpreordained adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of preordain¹

First recorded in 1525–35; pre- + ordain

Example Sentences

Ejae, meanwhile, offered an anecdote that suggests “Golden’s” success may have been preordained.

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Daddis believes that “a twisted relation with faith and fear, if left unbroken, can only preordain the nation to a militarized way of life bounded by the grimness of war.”

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That Los Angeles would someday overtake San Francisco in prominence was in some respects preordained.

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Though Cruise loves making movies, he doesn’t enjoy being their preordained salvation.

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But the company’s choice of the dire wolf as its first announced successful “de-extinction” seems almost preordained.

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Related Words

• foretell 
• predetermine