ordain

ordain is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 4 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.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.
  2. 2.And doth the power that man adores ordain Their doom Byron.
  3. 3.To set apart for an office; to appoint. Being ordained his special governor. Shak.
  4. 4.(Eccl.) 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.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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