decree

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English decre, borrowed from Old French decré, a variant of decret,^[2][3][4][5] from Latin dēcrētum (“decision, ordinance”), the neuter of dēcrētus, past participle of dēcernō (“to decide, pronounce judgment”), from dē- and cernō (“to separate, sift, decide”),^[2][6][7][4] from Proto-Indo-European *krei- (“to sieve”).^[2][6] In Anglo-Norman decré is recorded from 1171–74, for a decree, a decretal and canon law.^[8] The verb, from the late 14th century, was made from the noun.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A ruling of a church council on doctrine or discipline: 1303, in Robert Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[3] Etymonline also notes that the word was first ecclesiastical, in the early 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Secular decrees, ordinances of a civil authority with the force of law, are found from the late 14th century.^[2][3] Protestant theology used it from 1570 for the eternal purposes of God by which events are foreordained.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as an edict or a law, quoting "There went a decree from Cæsar Augustus".^[9] In law it became the judgment of a court of equity (before 1642), in Scots law the final judgment of a civil court (1754), and in Gibbon (1788) a ruling of a Roman emperor.^[3] The verb, to order by decree, is recorded from 1399 in the Rolls of Parliament, and to ordain as if by fate or divine will from 1593, in Hooker.^[3]

Timeline

• 1303 – a decree of a church council.^[3]
• 1399 – the verb, to order by decree.^[3]
• ?a1400 – an ordinance of the civil authority.^[3]
• 1570 – one of God's eternal purposes.^[3]
• before 1642 – the judgment of a court of equity.^[3]
• 1788 – a Roman emperor's judicial decision.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An official order issued by a ruler or other authority, with the force of law.
2. (law) The judgment of a court, especially one of equity or in divorce proceedings, as in decree nisi.
3. A ruling on doctrine or discipline by a church council or its head.
4. (theology) One of God's eternal purposes, by which events are foreordained.

Verb

1. To order or decide by decree: The council decreed that the market would close at noon.
2. To determine or order by judicial decision.

Word family

• decreeable
• decreer
• predecree
• undecreed
• consent decree
• decree nisi

Related words

• decretal
• discern
• certain

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.