holy order
2
7.4
- noun
- /ˈhoʊli ˈɔrdər/
:
sagrado orden
- The bishop officiated the ceremony where several candidates received their holy orders.
- the sacrament of holy orders
- take holy orders
- candidate for holy orders
Examples
-
The grace of Holy Orders really comes through.
Blog text (7) -
Since these sins require such degrading public penance, Peter Damian argued that they were grounds for deposing men from holy orders because canon law forbade men who had to perform public penance from assuming ecclesiastical offices.
Academic text (2004) -
I was moved, and I'm thinking about I'll take holy orders.
-
I guess he doesn't need to get married if he takes holy orders.
Fiction book (1997) -
If I have a correct (or incorrect) theology of holy orders but have not love, I am nothing.
Blog text (24) -
No, monastic life in the Byzantine tradition is unique, as it is in the Roman church, from holy orders.
Blog text (17) -
In that sense, the Spirit coinstituted the apostolic office and the sacrament of holy orders.
Academic text (2008) -
Urged by the prior of Camaldoli to remain and take holy orders, John refused on account of his desire for a coenobitical rather than an eremitical life.
Academic text (2005) -
Jacques, disgusted with his father's sentimental laxity, enters into holy orders and becomes a Catholic.
Academic text (1990) -
Bishop Fisher's original statute ordained that only two physic fellows could dispense with taking holy orders at any time, and Gilbert must have been one of them.
Academic text (1991)
Synonyms
51
4.8
All the religious leaders who perform ceremonies in a church or religion
15
7.0
A ceremony that makes someone a priest, minister, or religious leader
An official religious ceremony that makes someone a priest or minister
How Sacred
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'holy' (sacred) and 'order' (a religious community, rank, or rule-following group) transparently signal a sacred religious grouping or institution, so a B1 learner would likely grasp a general religious sense. However, the specific technical meaning referring to the ceremony or canonical status of ordination (often expressed as the fixed term 'Holy Orders') is specialized and not fully predictable from the parts, making the precise sense less clear without exposure.
Etymology
The phrase holy orders comes from the simple idea of putting someone into a special, sacred group in a ceremony. Here holy means 'sacred' and orders means 'a group with a role', so the phrase describes the ceremony or position of becoming a priest or other church leader.