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ordain. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ordain, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ordain in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ordain you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English ordeynen, from Old French ordiner, from Latin ordinare (“to order”), from ordo (“order”). Doublet of ordinate.
Pronunciation
Verb
ordain (third-person singular simple present ordains, present participle ordaining, simple past and past participle ordained)
- To prearrange unalterably.
1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. , epistle I, London: Printed for J Wilford, , →OCLC, page 15, lines 248–251:What if the Foot, ordain'd the duſt to tread, / Or Hand, to toil, aſpir'd to be the Head? / What if the Head, the Eye, or Ear repin'd / To ſerve mere Engines to the ruling Mind?
- To decree.
1961 November, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 668:On once more we swung, bumping uneasily along in the antique narrow-gauge coach, with gloomy woods and gathering night outside, shouts and songs (and quacks) inside—this was not at all the sort of train ordained by the logical strategists in Paris—then grinding to a stop at a mysterious halt which was no more than a nameboard in the pinewoods, without even a footpath leading to it, but nevertheless with a solitary passenger stolidly waiting.
- (religion) To admit into the ministry, for example as a priest, bishop, minister or Buddhist monk, or to authorize as a rabbi.
- To predestine.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to prearrange unalterably
admit into the ministry of a religion
See also
Further reading
- “ordain”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “ordain”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “ordain”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams