decree

English

Etymology

From Middle English decre, decree, from Old French decré (French décret), from Latin dēcrētum.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈkɹiː/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

Noun

decree (plural decrees)

1. An edict or law.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 2:1:

     There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

   • 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC:

     Poor hand, why quiverest thou at this decree?

2. (law) The judicial decision in a litigated cause rendered by a court of equity.
3. (law) The determination of a cause in a court of admiralty or court of probate.
4. (religion) A predetermination made by God; an act of providence.

Derived terms

• consent decree
• decree absolute
• decree arbitral
• decree nisi
• final decree
• imperial decree

 

Translations

edict or law

• Arabic: أَمْر (ar) m (ʔamr), مَرْسُوم (ar) m (marsūm)
• Armenian: պատգամ (hy) (patgam)

  Old Armenian: հրովարտակ (hrovartak)

• Azerbaijani: göstəriş, fərman (az), dekret
• Bashkir: фарман (farman)
• Belarusian: ука́з m (ukáz), дэкрэ́т m (dekrét), пастано́ва f (pastanóva)
• Bulgarian: декре́т (bg) m (dekrét), у́каз (bg) m (úkaz)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 法令 (zh) (fǎlìng), 上諭／上谕 (zh) (shàngyù), 詔書／诏书 (zh) (zhàoshū)

• Czech: dekret m
• Danish: dekret n, forordning c
• Egyptian: (wḏ)
• Esperanto: dekreto (eo)
• Finnish: asetus (fi), määräys (fi), dekreetti
• French: décret (fr) m
• Galician: decreto (gl) m
• Georgian: ბრძანებულება (brʒanebuleba)
• German: Erlass (de) m, Dekret (de) n, Verordnung (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍆𐍄𐍃 f (gagrēfts)
• Greek:

  Ancient: δόγμα n (dógma), πρόσταγμα n (próstagma)

• Hindi: न्यायिक आदेश (nyāyik ādeś), आज्ञा (hi) f (ājñā), डिक्री f (ḍikrī)
• Hungarian: rendelet (hu), dekrétum (hu)
• Indonesian: dekret (id), titah (id)
• Irish: acht (ga) m
• Italian: decreto (it) m, ordinanza (it) f
• Japanese: 命令 (ja) (めいれい, meirei), 詔書 (ja) (しょうしょう, shōsho), 詔勅 (ja) (しょうちょく, shōchoku)
• Korean: 법령(法令) (ko) (beomnyeong), 칙령(勅令) (ko) (chingnyeong)
• Latin: ēdictum n, dēcrētum n, iussiō f
• Macedonian: декре́т m (dekrét)
• Malay: dekri
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forordning (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: forordning f

• Ottoman Turkish: امر (emr, emir)
• Persian: فرمان (fa) (farmân)
• Polish: dekret (pl) m
• Portuguese: decreto (pt) m
• Romanian: decret (ro) n
• Russian: ука́з (ru) m (ukáz), декре́т (ru) m (dekrét), постановле́ние (ru) n (postanovlénije)
• Slovak: dekrét m
• Spanish: decreto (es) m
• Swedish: dekret (sv) n, förordning (sv) c
• Turkish: genelge (tr), sirküler (tr), kararname (tr)
• Ukrainian: ука́з m (ukáz), декре́т m (dekrét), постано́ва f (postanóva)
• Zazaki: qanunname m, ferman

judicial decision

• Belarusian: пастано́ва f (pastanóva)
• Bulgarian: постановле́ние (bg) n (postanovlénie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 判決／判决 (zh) (pànjué)

• Danish: dom (da) c
• Finnish: päätös (fi), määräys (fi)
• German: Verfügung (de) f, Beschluss (de) m, Entscheid (de) m, Gerichtsentscheid (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: δικαίωμα n (dikaíōma)

• Hungarian: végzés (hu), döntés (hu), határozat (hu)
• Japanese: 判決 (ja) (はんけつ, hanketsu)
• Korean: 결정(決定) (ko) (gyeoljeong)
• Portuguese: decreto (pt) m
• Russian: постановле́ние (ru) n (postanovlénije)
• Spanish: decreto (es) m, ordenanza (es) f
• Ukrainian: постано́ва f (postanóva)

determination of a cause

• Finnish: päätös (fi), määräys (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} مَرْسُوم (ar) (marsūm)
• French: ^{(please verify)} ordonnance (fr) f
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} فەرمان (ckb) (ferman)

Verb

decree (third-person singular simple present decrees, present participle decreeing, simple past and past participle decreed)

1. To command by a decree.

   A court decrees a restoration of property.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 22:28:

     Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee.

   • 1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Kubla Khan: Or A Vision in a Dream”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 55:

     In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree: / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran / Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea.

   • 2022 November 8, Pete Wells, “Restaurant Review: Why Does This Tibetan Kitchen Also Cook Sichuan Food?”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-08, Food‎^[2]:

     The Nhasangs themselves are from Ngaba, which is in the Amdo region of northeastern Tibetan, a cultural borderland where Tibetan and Sichuan traditions meet. China has decreed that Ngaba is within Sichuan Province.

Translations

to command by a decree

• Danish: dekretere, forordne, bestemme (da)
• Esperanto: dekreti
• Finnish: antaa asetus, julistaa (fi), määrätä (fi)
• French: décréter (fr)
• German: bestimmen (de), verfügen (de), verordnen (de), dekretieren
• Hungarian: elrendel (hu), határoz (hu), végzést hoz/meghoz, rendelkezik (hu)
• Irish: foraithin, reachtaigh, achtaigh
• Latin: scisco
• Old English: sċrīfan
• Portuguese: decretar (pt)
• Spanish: decretar (es)
• Swedish: förordna (sv), dekretera (sv), påbjuda (sv), bestämma (sv)

Anagrams

• recede

Middle English

Noun

decree

1. Alternative form of decre