v. t. | 1. | To set in order; to arrange according to rule; to regulate; to set; to establish. |
2. | To regulate, or establish, by appointment, decree, or law; to constitute; to decree; to appoint; to institute. | |
3. | To set apart for an office; to appoint. | |
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. |
Verb | 1. | ordain - order by virtue of superior authority; decree; "The King ordained the persecution and expulsion of the Jews"; "the legislature enacted this law in 1985" Synonyms: enact |
2. | ordain - appoint to a clerical posts; "he was ordained in the Church" | |
3. | ordain - invest with ministerial or priestly authority; "The minister was ordained only last month" | |
4. | ordain - issue an order |
ORDAIN. To ordain is to make an ordinance, to enact a law.
2. In the constitution of the United States, the preamble. declares
that the people "do ordain and establish this constitution for the United
States of America." The 3d article of the same constitution declares, that
"the judicial power shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such
inferior courts as the congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
"See 1 Wheat. R. 304, 324; 4 Wheat: R. 316, 402.