dictate

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Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin dictātus, perfect passive participle of dictō (“pronounce or declare repeatedly; dictate”), frequentative of dīcō (“say, speak”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun

  • IPA: /ˈdɪkˌteɪt/

Verb

Noun [edit]

dictate (plural dictates)

  1. An order or command.
    I must obey the dictates of my conscience.

Translations [edit]

an order or command

Verb [edit]

dictate (third-person singular simple present dictates, present participle dictating, simple past and past participle dictated)

  1. To order, command, control.
    • 2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0-521-78512-X), page 409,
      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.

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

to order, command, control
to speak in order for someone to write down the words

Latin [edit]

Participle [edit]

dictāte

  1. vocative masculine singular of dictātus
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