dictation

American  

[dik-tay-shuhn] / dɪkˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

• dictations
  plural

1. the act or manner of dictating for reproduction in writing.

2. the act or manner of transcribing words uttered by another.

3. words that are dictated or that are reproduced from dictation.

4. the playing or singing of music to be notated by a listener, especially as a technique of training the ear.

5. music notated from dictation.

6. the act of commanding arbitrarily.

7. something commanded.

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dictation British  

/ dɪkˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of dictating material to be recorded or taken down in writing

2. the material dictated

3. authoritative commands or the act of giving them

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondictation
  noun
• dictational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dictations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of dictation

1650–60; < Late Latin dictātiōn- (stem of dictātiō ) a dictating < Latin dictāt ( us ) ( see dictate) + -iōn- -ion

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Explanation

If your boss asks you to take dictation, then she’s going to say stuff out loud that she wants you to document in writing. When she begins dictation make sure you write down everything she says — no doodling. If you’re a famous writer you might hire someone to take dictation so you can just speak and someone will write or type what you say. Dictation can describe the process of documenting spoken words, or the written words themselves. If you see an old movie with a man in a suit telling his secretary, "take this down," he's about to give dictation. A dictation can also be a command, like your dad's dictation that you mow the lawn.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dictation dictations

The report said concerns about O'Brien's practice were known for many years before 2016, including triage delays, record-keeping failures, storage of patients notes at home, delayed dictation, non-standard prescribing and other clinical and administrative concerns.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

Along the same lines, dictation software has made a massive leap this year.

From Slate ● May 24, 2026

He speaks for hours with his computer and phone, sending emails, writing presentations, posting on LinkedIn and even coding through conversations using an AI dictation app from San Francisco startup, Wispr Flow.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026

I’ve also begun dictating all my emails, Slack messages and everything else using the built-in dictation features on my Lenovo Chromebook Plus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026

"No. My dad got me this tiny dictation thingy last year. It's like a notepad. I can record stuff and then play it back a couple times till it's memorized. My memory's gotten pretty good."

From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements

Mr. Santaki came up with the idea of large groups of people taking part in dictations back in 2013.

From NewsForKids.net ● Jun. 8, 2023

French spelling is notoriously tricky and dictations have inspired dread in generations of pupils from Dunkerque to Perpignan.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2023

Stripped from the final report, for instance, was a reference to how several department leaders who attended Garcetti’s weekly “cabinet” meetings told researchers that the meetings “often felt more like dictations rather than discussions.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2022

Junior and senior staff members told investigators they were asked to perform book tasks during their work day, including transcribing dictations, printing and delivering documents, and attending meetings with agents and publishers.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 14, 2021

These traits of hers, too, wounded his self-love; they made him feel inferior to her; and he smarted under counsels and advice which came with the authority of dictations.

From Gerald Fitzgerald The Chevalier by Charles James Lever

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Related Words

• transcription

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