ordainer

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or·dain

(ôr-dān′)

tr.v. or·dained, or·dain·ing, or·dains

a. To invest with ministerial or priestly authority; confer holy orders on: ordain a priest.

b. To authorize as a rabbi.

2. To order or decree by virtue of superior authority: The management ordained that business attire should be worn in the office at all times.

3. To prearrange unalterably; predestine: events that were ordained by fate.

[Middle English ordeinen, from Old French ordener, ordein-, from Latin ōrdināre, to organize, appoint to office, from ōrdō, ōrdin-, order; see ar- in Indo-European roots.]

or·dain′er n.

or·dain′ment n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun

ordainer - a cleric who ordains; a cleric who admits someone to holy orders

churchman, cleric, ecclesiastic, divine - a clergyman or other person in religious orders

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