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foreordain

 
Dictionary: fore·or·dain   (fôr'ôr-dān', fōr'-) pronunciation
tr.v., -dained, -dain·ing, -dains.
To determine or appoint beforehand; predestine.

foreordainment fore'or·dain'ment or fore·or'di·na'tion (-ôr'dn-ā'shən) n.

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Thesaurus: foreordain
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Devil's Dictionary: foreordination
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A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.

This looks like an easy word to define, but when I consider that pious and learned theologians have spent long lives in explaining it, and written libraries to explain their explanations; when I remember the nations have been divided and bloody battles caused by the difference between foreordination and predestination, and that millions of treasure have been expended in the effort to prove and disprove its compatibility with freedom of the will and the efficacy of prayer, praise, and a religious life, -- recalling these awful facts in the history of the word, I stand appalled before the mighty problem of its signification, abase my spiritual eyes, fearing to contemplate its portentous magnitude, reverently uncover and humbly refer it to His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons and His Grace Bishop Potter.


WordNet: foreordain
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: in theology
  Synonyms: predestine, predestinate

Meaning #2: foreordain or determine beforehand
  Synonyms: predestine, preordain


 
 
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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more