Preordain

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To determine or appoint in advance by divine will or fate, establishing something as inevitable before it occurs
2. To establish or decide something beforehand through a higher power or fate, ensuring its inevitability before it unfolds
3. To dictate or designate an outcome in advance through divine influence or fate, making it certain prior to its realization

Etymology: "Preordain" is a plain English compound: the prefix "pre-", meaning "before", attached to "ordain", which goes back to Latin "ordinare", "to arrange or put in order." The prefix itself has a long ancestry, traceable through Latin "prae" to the Proto-Italic and ultimately Indo-European "per-", a root carrying the sense of "before" or "forward." Ordain, in turn, has long been a word for formal appointment or decree, as in "ordained" priests. The combination is transparent: to preordain is to order or settle something beforehand, so the meaning follows directly from the parts. English has many such formations, with "pre-" joining verbs like "predetermine" and "prearrange" to express the same idea of prior decision.

Synonyms: predestine, foreordain, ordain, determine

Antonyms: unordain, free will