English Reference
noun

ordination

n.
US /ˌɔɹdəˈneɪʃən/ UK /ˌɔːdɪnˈeɪʃən/ or·di·na·tion UK spelling ordinations

  1. 01 C1 Advanced Formal Religion

    the official ceremony where a person is made a priest, minister, or monk.

    the formal act or ceremony of conferring holy orders or consecrating a person for religious ministry.

    Simple

    The whole family traveled to the cathedral to attend his ordination as a priest.

    In context

    Following years of rigorous theological study, her ordination represented both a personal milestone and a significant shift in the parish's leadership structure.

    Usage

    Often used with 'of' to indicate the person being ordained.

    consecrationappointment
  2. 02 C2 Proficiency TechnicalAcademic Science

    a way of organizing a lot of information into a chart to see patterns, often used in nature studies.

    a multivariate statistical technique that arranges items along axes to visualize similarities or differences within complex datasets.

    Simple

    The researchers used ordination to show how different plants grow in different parts of the forest.

    In context

    By applying non-metric multidimensional scaling as an ordination method, the ecologists were able to visualize how species composition shifted across the environmental gradient.

    Usage

    Commonly used in the fields of ecology, biology, and statistics.

    gradient analysismultidimensional scaling

From Middle French ordination, from Old French ordinacion, from Latin ordinatio.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level C2 · Proficiency
Frequency Frequent
Updated