decree
[dih-kree]
- 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.
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- to command, ordain, or decide by decree.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
edict, statute, instruction, directive, announcement, proclamation, injunction, rule, regulation, ruling, act, law, judgment, order, impose, dictate, declare, enact, proclaim, commandmentExamples from the Web for decree
Contemporary Examples
Just two weeks later, the Sultan issued his decree that shariah, Islamic law, would be the new law of the land.
Justice Anthony Kennedy has more power than any president or justice in history to decree the law of the land.
A 2010 decree took it a step further: they will be stricken with a “crime against sacraments.”
And it is not for all of the time, all or nothing, as the Yahoo decree implied.
The tensions here arise from the notion that democracies decide to go to war as nations, not by dint of decree.
Historical Examples
But there was the decree, written in letters of blood and flame.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
It seemed more than a decree of chance that their fates should be intertwined.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
It was nothing that the decree bore date since his return to France.
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens
There he was, and there was the decree; he had been taken in France, and his head was demanded.
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens
History is the final tribunal which will decree to everyone what he has deserved.
FreelandTheodor Hertzka
decree
- 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
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- to order, adjudge, or ordain by decree
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for decree
v.
late 14c., from decree (n.). Related: Decreed; decreeing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper