dictation

American  

[dik-tey-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

Etymology

Origin of dictation

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

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

As the practice becomes more commonplace, so do the AI dictation apps.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026

AI-powered dictation is now gaining a toehold among programmers and regular users – and getting people to talk to their laptops.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026

I had met her when she had gone to work at H. M. Basner as a replacement for an Afrikaans-speaking secretary, Miss Koch, who had refused to take my dictation.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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

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

The best commentaries are in the third volume, featuring Twain's autobiographical dictations from 1907-08.

From Fox News ● Jul. 8, 2019

If Cashel appeared to submit to these dictations with impatience, he really received them as laws to which he was, in virtue of his station, to be bound.

From Roland Cashel Volume I (of II) by Lever, Charles James

Related Words

• transcription