foreordain

[ fawr-awr-deyn, fohr- ]

verb (used with object)

1. to ordain or appoint beforehand.
2. to predestine; predetermine.

foreordain

/ ˌfɔːrɔːˈdeɪn; ˌfɔːrɔːdɪˈneɪʃən /

verb

1. tr; may take a clause as object to determine (events, results, etc) in the future

Derived Forms

• ˌforeorˈdainment, noun

Other Words From

• foreor·dainment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of foreordain¹

First recorded in 1400–50, foreordain is from the late Middle English word forordeinen. See fore-, ordain

Example Sentences

How funny it would be if his biggest hit song ever was the one he didn’t foreordain at all?

From Slate

But it does not foreordain that they will be incapable of finding common ground, or that the current period of intense partisanship will go on forever.

From The New Yorker

The actual risk depends on age, but even having two copies of ApoE4 does not foreordain the disease, Dr. Green emphasized.

From New York Times

To others, it celebrated the ability of Mr. Burden, whose very surname seemed to foreordain a life of professional dolor, to inscribe himself indelibly into his own work, as artists from J.S.

From New York Times

Since writing the above, I have seen an inquiry of a correspondent in one of the Calvinistic papers, in these words, “Why do our Calvinistic writers retain the words which seem so sadly to perplex our Arminian brethren, when it is certain that we do not attach the signification to them which they always pretend?” and then instances in the word “foreordain.”

From Project Gutenberg