dictum
Americannoun
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an authoritative pronouncement; judicial assertion.
- Synonyms:
- declaration, order, fiat, decree, edict
-
a saying; maxim.
noun
-
a formal or authoritative statement or assertion; pronouncement
-
a popular saying or maxim
-
law See obiter dictum
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dictum
1660–70; < Latin: something said, a saying, command, word, noun use of neuter past participle of dīcere to say, speak; cf. index
Explanation
"You are what you eat" is a dictum, and so is a law requiring you to curb your dog. A dictum is a formal pronouncement, a rule, or a statement that expresses a truth universally acknowledged. Dictum dates from the 16th Century. It descended from a Latin word that means "something said." In contemporary use, it means more like "something that is officially said." If the principal of your school issues a dictum declaring "no jeans in school," it's time to go shopping.
Vocabulary lists containing dictum
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Fahrenheit 451
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You Can Say That Again: Dic and Dict
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Immediately both Fleming’s Dictum and Nance’s Law struck at the same time.
From Salon • Jul. 8, 2017
Modern logicians therefore prefer to abandon the Dictum de Omni et Nullo in any shape, and to substitute for it the following three axioms, which apply to all figures alike.
From Deductive Logic by Stock, St. George William Joseph
The special rules of the first figure are merely a reassertion in another form of the Dictum de Omni et Nullo.
From Deductive Logic by Stock, St. George William Joseph
"Knights and esquires," says the Dictum of Kenilworth, "Who were robbers, if they have no land, shall pay the half of their goods, and find sufficient security to keep henceforth the peace of the kingdom."
From The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part B. From Henry III. to Richard III. by Hume, David
The Dictum, then, as we have seen, does generalise these conditions, and declares that when such conditions are satisfied a Mediate Inference is valid.
From Logic Deductive and Inductive by Read, Carveth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
