Preordained

Preordained is a term used to describe events or outcomes that are considered to have been decided or determined before they occur. In religious contexts, it is often linked to the idea that a divine being or ultimate order has laid out a plan, making certain outcomes inevitable. In secular usage, it can refer to fate or predetermined results by natural laws or causal chains.

The concept is closely related to predestination and foreordination, but the nuance may differ by tradition. In Christianity, discussions range from hard predestination in some Calvinist traditions to conditional election in others. In Islam, the concept of qadar denotes divine decree that shapes events, sometimes alongside human responsibility. In Hinduism and Buddhism, causality—karma or dependent origination—describes how actions and conditions shape, but do not rigidly fix, outcomes.

Philosophically, preordination raises questions about determinism, foreknowledge, and the compatibility of free will with planned outcomes. Some theologians advocate compatibilism; others defend hard determinism or libertarian free will, depending on the weighting of divine sovereignty and autonomy.

Usage in literature and rhetoric often describes plots or lives as preordained by fate, suggesting an inescapable course. From an etymological perspective, the term derives from Latin praeordinare, meaning to ordain beforehand. Variants include foreordained and predestined.