Link Centre Dictionary

dictate

dic·tate

UK/(ˌ)dɪkˈteɪt/ US/ˈdɪkˌteɪt/ fairly common
verb (3) noun (2)

verb

1.

issue commands or orders for

Synonyms
2.

say out loud for the purpose of recording

  • “He dictated a report to his secretary”
3.

rule as a dictator

noun

1.
2.

a guiding principle

  • “the dictates of reason”

Origin

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.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.