decree

[ dih-kree ]

/ dɪˈkri /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR decree ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a formal and authoritative order, especially one having the force of law: a presidential decree.

Law. a judicial decision or order.

Theology. one of the eternal purposes of God, by which events are foreordained.

verb (used with or without object), de·creed, de·cree·ing.

to command, ordain, or decide by decree.

Nearby words

decoupling, decoy, decrease, decreasing, decreasing term insurance, decree, decree absolute, decree nisi, decree-law, decreet, decrement

Origin of decree

1275–1325; (noun) Middle English decre < Anglo-French decre, decret < Latin dēcrētum, noun use of neuter of dēcrētus, past participle of dēcernere; see decern; (v.) Middle English decreen, derivative of the noun

Related forms

pre·de·cree, verb (used with object), pre·de·creed, pre·de·cree·ing.un·de·creed, adjectivewell-de·creed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for decree

Just two weeks later, the Sultan issued his decree that shariah, Islamic law, would be the new law of the land.
Brunei Returns to the Stoning Age|Jay Michaelson|April 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Justice Anthony Kennedy has more power than any president or justice in history to decree the law of the land.
Will This Man Make Gay Marriage Legal Everywhere?|Stuart Taylor, Jr.|February 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A 2010 decree took it a step further: they will be stricken with a “crime against sacraments.”
What About Women, Pope Francis?|Janine di Giovanni|August 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And it is not for all of the time, all or nothing, as the Yahoo decree implied.
Yahoo’s Work-From-Home Ban a Bigger Blow to Men|Ellen Galinsky|March 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The tensions here arise from the notion that democracies decide to go to war as nations, not by dint of decree.
Let's Debate An Iran Attack|Ali Gharib|October 1, 2012|DAILY BEAST
But their great age and the familiarity of their presence had softened the decree in its enforcement.
On the Vice of Novel Reading.|Young E. Allison
The Senate, however, passed a decree that the army should name the new emperor.
A Smaller History of Rome|William Smith and Eugene Lawrence
The General Council can only meet by a decree of the supreme head of the state, who determines the length of the sitting.
Wanderings in Corsica, Vol. 1 of 2|Ferdinand Gregorovius
On the 18th of March 1758, a decree granted to the Hewelckes the privileges they had requested.
The Collector's Handbook to Keramics of the Renaissance and Modern Periods|William Chaffers
Its profits cannot be divided until the managing agents of the corporation so decree.
Cyclopedia of Commerce, Accountancy, Business Administration, v. 3|Various

British Dictionary definitions for decree

decree

/ (dɪˈkriː) /

noun

an edict, law, etc, made by someone in authority

an order or judgment of a court made after hearing a suit, esp in matrimonial proceedingsSee decree nisi, decree absolute

verb decrees, decreeing or decreed

to order, adjudge, or ordain by decree

Derived Forms

decreeable, adjectivedecreer, noun

Word Origin for decree

C14: from Old French decre, from Latin dēcrētum ordinance, from dēcrētus decided, past participle of dēcernere to determine; see decern

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012