ordination mill
- noun
- /ˌɔrdɪˈneɪʃən mɪl/
- Offensive
:
fábrica de ordenaciones
- The small website was exposed as an ordination mill that granted clergy titles to anyone who paid a fee.
Examples
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He received his certificate from an ordination mill, raising doubts about his legitimacy.
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Some religious leaders have spoken out against the rise of the ordination mill industry.
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This is an ordination mill.
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Don't trust an ordination mill for spiritual guidance!
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Some critics argue that the rise of the ordination mill industry compromises the integrity of spiritual leadership.
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After only a short online course, he received a certificate from an ordination mill, which shocked his peers.
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Many view the ordination mill as a quick avenue for individuals seeking to become religious leaders without proper training.
How Authentic
Surface Forms
Morphology
ordination + mill
Knowing 'ordination' (conferring priesthood) and 'mill' (a factory or place that mass-produces something) lets a learner infer a place that mass-produces ordinations, so the basic compositional sense is recoverable. However, the specifically negative sense — rapid, low-quality, or for-sale ordinations — relies on the figurative use of 'mill' (as in 'diploma mill') and cultural knowledge, so the full meaning is not completely predictable to all B1 learners.
Etymology
The term ordination mill may come from the image of a busy factory: a mill that mass-produces goods and ordination meaning the giving of a religious title. One popular image is a place that 'turns out' these titles like cheap products, so the phrase now means an organization that gives religious titles quickly, often 'for money' and with little real training.