dictate
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
dictate¹
- /ˈdɪkˌteɪt/
Where it comes from
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.
noun dictates
- An order or command. I must obey the dictates of my conscience.
dictate²
- /(ˌ)dɪkˈteɪt/ UK
- /ˈdɪkˌteɪt/ US
Rhymes with -eɪt
Where it comes from
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-
Proto-Indo-European *-eti
Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti
Proto-Italic *deikō
Latin dīcō
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Proto-Italic *-tos
Latin -tus
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.
Proto-Italic *-ājō
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin -tō
Latin dictō
Proto-Indo-European *-tus
Proto-Italic *-tus
Latin -tus
Latin dictātusbor.
English dictate
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”).
verb dictates · dictating · dictated
- To order, command, control. Etiquette dictates that wedding invitations should be acknowledged in writing.
- To speak in order for someone to write down the words. She is dictating a letter to a stenographer.
- 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.
