Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ordain \Or*dain"\, v. t. [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.

Source : WordNet®

ordain
     v 1: order by virtue of superior authority; decree; "The King
          ordained the persecution and expulsion of the Jews";
          "the legislature enacted this law in 1985" [syn: {enact}]
     2: appoint to a clerical posts; "he was ordained in the Church"
        [syn: {consecrate}, {ordinate}, {order}]
     3: invest with ministerial or priestly authority; "The minister
        was ordained only last month"
     4: issue an order