to foreordain
1
9.9
- verb
- /ˌfɔːrɪˈɔːrdeɪn/
- Formal
:
predestinar
- According to the ancient texts, the events of the future are foreordained by the gods.
Examples
-
Destructive agricultural habits and the profit motive combined to foreordain a continual migration into the frontier.
Academic text (2011) -
Foreordained by themselves laws that gave us life... and took care of all existence.
-
And because of who we are as human beings, the outcome is foreordained.
-
Until the campaign's final week, however, the outcome was anything but foreordained.
Academic text (2005) -
Nothing is foreordained.
Fiction book (1998) -
"If God foreordained a person's moral leanings to sin or virtue, how could that person be held accountable for the actions that resulted?"
Academic text (2006) -
Some in the United States believe China is foreordained to be America's next great enemy or, more charitably, its great competitor.
Academic text (2001) -
Given Russia's past and the enormous difficulties ahead, national liberals think that an enlightened authoritarian regime is more or less foreordained.
Academic text (1992) -
Rome's rise was neither foreordained nor without perils: it faced more numerous enemies, more wily commanders, and more ferocious warriors than it had at its command.
Academic text (2004) -
Many people believe that their destinies are foreordained by a higher power.
Synonyms
23
5.8
Decide or make a result likely before it happens
8
8.8
To decide or arrange something before it happens, often by fate
8
4.1
To plan something ahead of time
6
9.2
To decide in advance, often by fate or God's will
3
5.1
Decide and set something before it is needed
3
3.7
Choose something in advance
1
9.9
Decide in advance that something will happen, often by fate or God
1
7.8
Decide or say something before an event starts
How Decided
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Foreordain combines fore- meaning 'before' and ordain meaning 'to order' or 'decide', like the common word 'order'. So, to foreordain something is to decide it beforehand, often as if a higher or divine power had made that decision.