- ordain
- late 13c., "to appoint or admit to the ministry of the Church," from stem of O.Fr. ordener, from L. ordinare "put in order, arrange, dispose, appoint," from ordo (gen. ordinis) "order." The notion is "to confer holy orders upon" (see order). Meaning "to decree, enact" is from c.1300; sense of "to set (something) that will continue in a certain order" is from early 14c.