dictate
/ˈdɪkˌteɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.58 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To speak in order for someone to write down the words.
verb
To determine or decisively affect.
Example Sentences
- "I must obey the dictates of my conscience."
- "Etiquette dictates that wedding invitations should be acknowledged in writing."
- "Trademark Owners will nevertheless try to dictate how their marks are to be represented, but dictionary publishers with spine can resist such pressure."
- "She is dictating a letter to a stenographer."
- "The French teacher dictated a passage from Victor Hugo."
- "He had offered, and been refused! There was that in her own nature, which sympathised with the pride, for such she held to be the motive, dictating the refusal."
Etymology
First attested in 1581; borrowed from Latin dictātum (“a thing said, something dictated”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of dictātus, the perfect passive participle of dictō (“pronounce or declare repeatedly; dictate”), frequentative of dīcō (“say, speak”). Doublet of diktat.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *deyḱ-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɪkˌteɪt/
- British English: /(ˌ)dɪkˈteɪt/