verb
ordain
or-DAYN/ɔːrˈdeɪn/
Officially appoint someone to religious ministry.
The bishop ordains three new priests during today's church service.
Etymology
Latin ordinare connected arranging things with appointing people to a position. In religious use, ordaining someone means conferring holy orders—formally admitting that person to the ministry.
In context
official ceremony and ordaining is a ceremony of putting someone in a position now when the word ordain is used in the Old Testament it is mostly being used to ordain the levitical priests
More examples
- She was ordained as a minister last spring.
- The seminary ordains her as a rabbi.
- Their denomination requires years of study before ordaining ministers.
Forms
ordain · ordains · ordained · ordaining
ordination noun — The formal admission to religious ministry.
Similar words
- appoint
- Assigns someone to an office, religious or otherwise.
- consecrate
- Emphasizes making someone sacred through a formal religious ceremony.