ordination

[awr-dn-ey-shuhn]

noun

1. Ecclesiastical.,  the act or ceremony of ordaining.

2. the fact or state of being ordained.

3. a decreeing.

4. the act of arranging.

5. the resulting state; disposition; arrangement.

ordination

/ ˌɔːdɪˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. 1. the act of conferring holy orders

   2. the reception of holy orders

2. the condition of being ordained or regulated

3. an arrangement or order

Other Word Forms

• nonordination noun
• postordination adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordination¹

1350–1400; Middle English ordinacioun < Late Latin ōrdinātiō ordainment, Latin: a putting in order, appointment, equivalent to ōrdinā(re) to order, arrange (derivative of ōrdō, stem ōrdin-, order) + -tiō -tion

Example Sentences

He has been stripped of his ordination certificate amid the probe, China's Buddhist association said on Monday.

From BBC

Not long after his ordination, he was named the Jesuit provincial for Argentina, which put him in charge of the order’s activities throughout the country.

From Los Angeles Times

He resisted the ordination of women, declaring that Pope John Paul II had once and for all ruled out the possibility.

From BBC

He never announced a retirement but quit fighting and began preaching, on street corners at first, then, after ordination, in his own Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston.

From Los Angeles Times

Feminism, gay rights and the Vietnam War fueled additional discord, with more traditionalist congregants opposing the ordination of female priests and reacting furiously to mainline Protestant leaders who advocated from the pulpit.

From Salon