ordination
or·di·na·tion/ˌɔɹdəˈneɪʃn̩/noun
ordination is spelled O-R-D-I-N-A-T-I-O-N: 10 letters and 4 syllables (or·di·na·tion). It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ordination means “The act of ordaining or the state of being ordained” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ordination is ordinations.
How many letters and syllables are in ordination?
| Letters | 10: O-R-D-I-N-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: or·di·na·tion |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,896th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ordination?
Ordination appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ordination?
- UK /ˌɔːdɪˈneɪʃn̩/
- US /ˌɔɹdəˈneɪʃn̩/
- Australia /ˌoːdɪˈnæɪʃn̩/
Ordination has 4 syllables, split or·di·na·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ordination.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ordination?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ordination from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃn/):
- information
- formation
- preparation
- presentation
- relation
- identification
- observation
- variation
- obligation
- simulation
- notification
- calculation
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ordination
- ordinations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ordination mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of ordaining or the state of being ordained.
- 2
The ceremony in which a priest is consecrated, considered a sacrament in the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
- 3
the ceremony in which a bhikkhu or bhikkhuni is ordained into the sangha
- 4
A statistical technique for ordering data from a large number of sites or populations by arranging the data as points in a multidimensional coordinate frame, in which patterns can be discerned; an instance of this.
Coordinate term: cluster analysis
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ordination in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ordination |
| Spanish | ordenación, ordinación |
| Portuguese | ordenação |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ordination come from?
From Middle French ordination, from Old French ordinacion, from Latin ordinatio.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).