dictate
nounverbattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//(ˌ)dɪkˈteɪt//
- United States//ˈdɪkˌteɪt//
- //ˈdɪkˌteɪt//
An order or command.
noun
- 1
An order or command.
I must obey the dictates of my conscience.
Etymology
First attested in 1581; borrowed from Latin dictātum (“a thing said, something dictated”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of dictātus, the perfect passive participle of dictō (“pronounce or declare repeatedly; dictate”), frequentative of dīcō (“say, speak”). Doublet of diktat.
verb
- 1
To order, command, control.
Etiquette dictates that wedding invitations should be acknowledged in writing.
Trademark Owners will nevertheless try to dictate how their marks are to be represented, but dictionary publishers with spine can resist such pressure.
- 2
To speak in order for someone to write down the words.
She is dictating a letter to a stenographer.
The French teacher dictated a passage from Victor Hugo.
- 3
To determine or decisively affect.
He had offered, and been refused! There was that in her own nature, which sympathised with the pride, for such she held to be the motive, dictating the refusal.
Geology dictates the approximate location of the tunnel.
I didn't lay this bar, or the restaurant for that matter, out on paper. The design was dictated by the materials.
Etymology
First attested in 1577; borrowed from Latin dictātus, perfect passive participle of dictō (“to pronounce or declare repeatedly; to dictate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), frequentative of dīcō (“say, speak”).
Forms
- plural
- dictates
- past tense
- dictated
- past participle
- dictated
- present participle
- dictating
- third person singular
- dictates