dictate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dictātus, the past participle of dictō (“to say repeatedly; to say for writing down; to prescribe”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a frequentative of dīcō (“to say, tell”),^[2][3][4][7] from Proto-Indo-European *deik- (“to show; to pronounce solemnly”).^[4][7] The Latin verb also gave French dicter (14th century), Spanish dictar (13th century) and Italian dettare, and was borrowed as Dutch dicteren and German diktieren (15th century).^[2] The noun is probably partly from dictātum (“a thing dictated”), the neuter past participle used as a noun, partly from Late Latin dictatus (“written work; dictation; a command”), and partly from the English verb.^[2][4][5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To say or read aloud words that someone else is to write down: 1577, in a funeral sermon by Richard Davies.^[2][9] Barnhart finds the verb only in 1592,^[3] and Etymonline in the 1590s.^[4] The noun, a text spoken to be written down, is recorded from 1581.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The sense of laying down with authority what must be done grew from the Latin verb's “to prescribe”.^[2][4] Barnhart first finds it in 1621, in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy,^[3] the OED in 1624, with the intransitive “to give orders, lay down the law” before 1628.^[2] Etymonline also dates the sense “to be the determining cause of” to the 1620s.^[4] An obsolete sense, to declare authoritatively, was used from 1606 to 1782.^[2] The noun developed alongside: an authoritative pronouncement (1582), a guide to action from conscience, reason or nature (1593, in Hooker) and a command given by an authority (1604).^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as a rule or maxim delivered with authority.^[10]

Timeline

• 1577 – verb, to say aloud for another to write down.^[2][9]
• 1581 – noun, a dictated text.^[2][9]
• 1582 – noun, an authoritative pronouncement.^[2]
• 1593 – noun, a guiding principle, such as the dictates of conscience.^[2]
• 1604 – noun, a command by an authority.^[2]
• 1621 – verb, to command (Barnhart).^[3]
• 1624 – verb, to prescribe what must be done.^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson: a rule or maxim delivered with authority.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To say or read aloud words for someone to write down or for a machine to record: She dictated two letters to her assistant.^[11][9][2]
2. To lay down with authority; to prescribe or command.^[11][9][2]
3. To determine or require something necessarily: The weather will dictate when we leave.^[4][2]
4. To give orders in a domineering way: She refused to be dictated to by her landlord.^[11][9][2]

Noun

1. An authoritative order or command.^[11][9][2]
2. A guiding rule or principle, usually in the plural: acting against the dictates of his own judgement.^{[11][9][2][8]}

Word family

• dictatingly
• redictate
• undictated

Related words

• dictation
• dictator
• dictum
• diction
• ditty
• indict
• verdict
• diktat

Usage notes

Most sources until the late 19th century gave only stress on the first syllable of the verb; the first edition of the OED (1895) gave both, and stress on the second syllable has been usual in British sources since the early 20th century.^[2] The noun is stressed on the first syllable.^[11][2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins