ordain
English
Etymology
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French ordiner, from Latin ordinare (“to order”), from ordo (“order”). Doublet of ordinate.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɔɹˈdeɪn/
- Rhymes: -eɪn
Verb
ordain (third-person singular simple present ordains, present participle ordaining, simple past and past participle ordained)
- To prearrange unalterably.
- 1733, [Alexander Pope], “Epistle I”, in An Essay on Man. Address’d to a Friend, new edition, London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, at the Three Flower-de-luces, behind the Chapter-house, S. Paul's, OCLC 228762650; republished as An Essay on Man. By Alexander Pope, Esq. A New Edition. To which is Prefixed a Critical Essay, by J[ohn] Aikin, M.D., London: Printed for T[homas] Cadell, Jun., and W. Davies, (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell), Strand, 1796, OCLC 1008157997, stanza IX, lines 259–262, page 55:
- 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.
- To admit into the ministry of a religion, for example as a priest, bishop, minister or Buddhist monk, or to authorize as a rabbi.
- To predestine.
Conjugation
Conjugation of ordain
infinitive | (to) ordain | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | |||
1st person singular | ordain | ordained | ||
2nd person singular | ordain, ordainest* | |||
3rd person singular | ordains, ordaineth* | |||
plural | ordain | |||
subjunctive | ordain | |||
imperative | ordain | — | ||
participles | ordaining | ordained | ||
* Archaic or obsolete. |
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
to prearrange unalterably
|
|
admit into the ministry of a religion
|
See also
Further reading
- ordain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- ordain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- ordain at OneLook Dictionary Search
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