decree

American  

[dih-kree] / dɪˈkri /

noun

1. a formal and authoritative order, especially one having the force of law.

   a presidential decree.

2. Law. a judicial decision or order.

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

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verb (used with or without object)

decreed, decreeing

1. to command, ordain, or decide by decree.

decree British  

/ dɪˈkriː /

noun

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

2. an order or judgment of a court made after hearing a suit, esp in matrimonial proceedings See decree nisi decree absolute

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verb

1. to order, adjudge, or ordain by decree

Other Word Forms

• decreeable
  adjective
• decreer
  noun
• predecree
  verb (used with object)
• undecreed
  adjective
• well-decreed
  adjective

Etymology

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

Explanation

Look carefully! A decree isn't something you get when you graduate. That one little letter change makes it something else altogether: a legally binding command or the announcement of such a thing. If you go back far enough, a decree referred to a decision handed down by the Roman emperor. In more modern usage, a divorce decree is the document issued by a court that terminates a marriage. And if you want to go out with someone on a date, but things keep preventing you from having the chance to ask, you could say that fate did not decree it to be so.

Example Sentences

Lecornu also said he would issue a decree later Sunday authorising appropriate isolation measures being put in place to protect the public.

From Barron's • May 10, 2026

Sable says that it has met all the requirements of the consent decree, having spent more than $100 million on repairs and upgrades.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026

Anthropic said it has had discussions with the US government regarding Mythos despite a decree by the White House in February to terminate all contracts with the startup.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

By 2021, the president of Uzbekistan had signed a national decree, “On measures for the further development and popularization of chess and enhancing the system of training chess players.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

Soon he left Chicago and moved to Gilman, Illinois, where he met a young woman and began a formal courtship, which compelled him to visit Holmes’s building one more time, to seek a divorce decree.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• act
• announcement
• directive
• edict
• injunction
• instruction
• judgment
• law
• order
• proclamation
• regulation
• rule
• ruling
• statute