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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ordain \Or*dain"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Ordained}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Ordaining}.] [OE. ordeinen, OF. ordener, F. ordonner, fr. L. ordinare, from ordo, ordinis, order. See {Order}, and cf. {Ordinance}.]
1. To set in order; to arrange according to rule; to regulate; to set; to establish. ''Battle well ordained.'' --Spenser.
The stake that shall be ordained on either side. --Chaucer.
2. 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. 32.
And doth the power that man adores ordain Their doom ? --Byron.
3. To set apart for an office; to appoint.
Being ordained his special governor. --Shak.
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.
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