dictate

[dik-teyt, dik-teyt, dik-teyt]

verb (used with object)

dictated, dictating 

1. to say or read (something) aloud for another person to transcribe or for a machine to record.

   to dictate some letters to a secretary.

2. to prescribe or lay down authoritatively or peremptorily; command unconditionally.

   to dictate peace terms to a conquered enemy.

verb (used without object)

dictated, dictating 

1. to say or read aloud something to be written down by a person or recorded by a machine.

2. to give orders.

noun

1. an authoritative order or command.

2. a guiding or governing principle, requirement, etc..

   to follow the dictates of one's conscience.

   Synonyms: bidding

dictate

verb

1. to say (messages, letters, speeches, etc) aloud for mechanical recording or verbatim transcription by another person

2. (tr) to prescribe (commands) authoritatively

3. (intr) to act in a tyrannical manner; seek to impose one's will on others

noun

1. an authoritative command

2. a guiding principle or rule

   the dictates of reason

Other Word Forms

• dictatingly adverb
• misdictated adjective
• predictate verb (used with object)
• redictate verb
• undictated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dictate¹

First recorded in 1585–95; from Latin dictātus “said repeatedly,” past participle of dictāre “to say repeatedly, order, prescribe,” from dīcere “to say, speak, tell”

Word History and Origins

Origin of dictate¹

C17: from Latin dictāre to say repeatedly, order, from dīcere to say

Example Sentences

The Faster Labor Contracts Act would require federal arbitrators to dictate private contracts if employers and unions can’t reach agreement within an arbitrary and unrealistic timeframe.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Some of the loudest voices in public life now assert that their donations give them carte blanche to dictate the terms of belonging.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As tradition dictated, her placenta was hurled into the Huangpu River; when it floated away, it was deemed that she too “would be raised and fed, only to drift away.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Those changes dictate not just a few boarding tweaks but a dramatically different system.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The other way to end a war is with a total victory that lets the winners dictate the way ahead.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• govern 
• guide 
• impose 
• lay down 
• prescribe