ordain
Syllables: or·dain/ɔːˈdeɪn/US/ɔɹˈdeɪn/
ordain verb: to prearrange unalterably.
Verb
ordain (third-person singular simple present ordains, present participle ordaining, simple past and past participle ordained)
- To prearrange unalterably.
- 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?1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle I, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 15, lines 248–251
- To decree.
- 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...1961 November, H. G. Ellison, P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 668
- To admit into the ministry, for example as a priest, bishop, minister or Buddhist monk, or to authorize as a rabbi.
- To predestine.
ordain meaning in Urdu, Malayalam, Kannada and Sanskrit
ordain in Urdu
- جاری کرنا, مقرر کرنا, نظم دینا, تعینات کرنا, ترتیب دینا
ordain in Malayalam
- കല്പിക്കുക, നിശ്ചയിക്കുക, ആജ്ഞാപിക്കുക
ordain in Kannada
- ವಿಧಿಪೂರ್ವಕವಾಗಿ ಪಾದ್ರಿಯ ಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ನೇಮಿಸು, ಪಾದ್ರಿಯ ದೀಕ್ಷೆಹೊಂದು, ಅರ್ಚಕನಾಗಿ ನಿಯಮಿತನಾಗು, ನಿಷ್ಕರ್ಷಿಸು, ಸಂಕಲ್ಪಿಸು, ನಿಯಮಿಸು
ordain in Sanskrit
- to ordain, instruct
- सिध् sidh
- to ordain, direct, enjoin, settle, appoint
- विधा vidhā
More languagesFewer languages
- ordain in Indonesian
- tahbis
Examples of ordain in a sentence
- There was much pomp at the ceremony that made him an ordained minister.
- Jane Doe was ordained as an Episcopal priest last year in the Diocese of Edinburgh.
- Jake was ordained a high priest when he was called to be a counselor in a bishopric.
Synonyms of ordain
Forms of ordain
| third-person singular present | ordains |
|---|---|
| present participle | ordaining |
| past participle | ordained |
| past | ordained |
Origin of ordain
From Middle English ordeynen, from Old French ordiner, from Latin ordinare (“to order”), from ordo (“order”). Doublet of ordinate.
Words formed from ordain
Words that rhyme with ordain
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- drain
- pane
- gain
- main
- sustain
- vein
- entertain
- skein
- Wayne
- abstain
- bane
- campaign
- champagne
- crane
- entrain
- fain
- insane
- maine
- pain
- plane
- stain
- wane
- Aquitaine
- ascertain
- chicane
- contain
- detain
- explain
- maintain
- mundane
- obtain
- refrain
- remain
- vane
- amain
- arcane
- Blaine
- complain
- deign
- detrain
- distrain
- kane
- pertain
- profane
- public domain
- reign
- swain
- terrain
Questions about ordain
- What does ordain mean?
- Ordain means to prearrange unalterably.
- What is ordain in Urdu?
- Ordain in Urdu is جاری کرنا, مقرر کرنا, نظم دینا. See Ordain meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is ordain?
- Ordain is a verb.
- How do you pronounce ordain?
- Ordain is pronounced /ɔɹˈdeɪn/ (US).
- What is the past tense of ordain?
- The past tense of ordain is ordained.
Words near ordain in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ordain (page history and authors); ordain (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ordain (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ordain (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); विधा (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ordain.wav.
Cite this entry: “ordain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ordain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.