Category:Ordain

Or*dain", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ordained; p. pr. & vb. n. Ordaining.] Etym: [oe. ordeinen, of. ordener, f. ordonner, fr. L. ordinare, from Ordo, ordinis, order. See order, and cf. Ordinance.]

1. To set in order; to arrange according to rule; to regulate; to Set; to establish. "battle well ordained." Spenser. The stake that shall be ordained on either side. Chaucer.

2. To regulate, or establish, by appointment, decree, or law; to Constitute; to decree; to appoint; to institute. Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month. 1 kings xii. 32. And doth the power that man adores ordain their doom byron.

3. To set apart for an office; to appoint. Being ordained his special governor. Shak.

4. (eccl.)

Defn: to invest with ministerial or sacerdotal functions; to Introduce into the office of the christian ministry, by the laying on Of hands, or other forms; to set apart by the ceremony of ordination. Meletius was ordained by arian bishops. Bp. Stillingfleet.