Lexic.us

Definition of Dictate

1. Noun. An authoritative rule.

2. Verb. Issue commands or orders for.

3. Noun. A guiding principle. "The dictates of reason"

4. Verb. Say out loud for the purpose of recording. "He dictated a report to his secretary"

5. Verb. Rule as a dictator.

Definition of Dictate

1. v. t. To tell or utter so that another may write down; to inspire; to compose; as, to dictate a letter to an amanuensis.

2. v. i. To speak as a superior; to command; to impose conditions (on).

3. n. A statement delivered with authority; an order; a command; an authoritative rule, principle, or maxim; a prescription; as, listen to the dictates of your conscience; the dictates of the gospel.

Definition of Dictate

1. Noun. An order or command. ¹

2. Verb. To order, command, control. ¹

3. Verb. To speak in order for someone to write down the words. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Dictate

1. to read aloud for recording [v -TATED, -TATING, -TATES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Dictate

dicrotic notch dicrotic pulse dicrotic wave dicrotism dicrotisms dicrotophos dict dicta dicta- dictamen

dictamens dictamnus dictamnuses dictaphone dictaphones dictate (current term) dictated dictated but not read dictates dictating

dictation dictation machine dictation machines dictational dictations dictator dictatorial dictatorially dictatorialness dictatorian

Literary usage of Dictate

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. English Synonymes Explained in Alphabetical Order: With Copious by George Crabb (1881)
"To dictate amounts even to more than to command ; it signifies commanding with ... To dictate implies an entire subserviency in the person dictated to : to ..."

2. The Works of President Edwards by Jonathan Edwards (1844)
"But this is absurd ; for it is to make the determination of choice prior to the dictate of the Understanding, and the ground of it, Strich cannot consist ..."

3. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (1882)
"Between Barton and Delaford there was that constant communication which strong family affection would naturally dictate; ..."

4. The Novels of Jane Austen by Jane Austen (1892)
"Between Barton and Delaford, there was that constant communication which strong family affection would naturally dictate ; and among the merits and the ..."

5. The Works of President Edwards by Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd (1830)
"But this is absurd ; for it is to make the determination of choice prior to the dictate of Understanding, and the ground of it; which cannot consist with ..."

6. The Works of President Edwards: With a Memoir of His Life by Jonathan Edwards, Sereno Edwards Dwight (1829)
"But tin- is absurd ; for it is to make the determination of choice prior to the dictate of Understanding, and the ground of it; which cannot consist with ..."

7. Crabb's English Synonyms by George. Crabb (1917)
"Suggestion signifies the thing suggested, and conveys the idea of its being proposed secretly or in a gentle manner. dictate, PRESCRIBE. ..."

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