WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Or*dain"
Part of Speech : v.
Etymology : [OE. ordeinen, OF. ordener, F. ordonner, fr. L. ordinare, from ordo, ordinis, order. See Order, and cf. Ordinance.]
Definition : 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.

t. [imp. & p. p. Ordained; p. pr. & vb. n. Ordaining.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913