DictionaryRoot: dictare
Latin
dictare
say repeatedly, dictate, or prescribe
Forms
- dictare
- dictat- — The form used for completed action.
Origin
A repeated-action formation from Latin dicere, “say.”
Note
Repeated or formal saying can become prescribing what another person must write or do.
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verb / noun
dictate
A command determining what must be done.
Etymology
Latin dictare could mean to prescribe as well as to speak for writing. A dictate carries that prescriptive force, setting out what another person must do.