dictate
(noun) a guiding principle; “the dictates of reason”
dictate
(noun) an authoritative rule
dictate
(verb) say out loud for the purpose of recording; “He dictated a report to his secretary”
order, prescribe, dictate
(verb) issue commands or orders for
dictate
(verb) rule as a dictator
Source: WordNet® 3.1
dictate (plural dictates)
An order or command.
dictate (third-person singular simple present dictates, present participle dictating, simple past and past participle dictated)
To order, command, control.
To speak in order for someone to write down the words.
Source: Wiktionary
Dic"tate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dictated; p. pr. & vb. n. Dictating.] Etym: [L. dictatus, p. p. of dictare, freq. of dicere to say. See Diction, and cf. Dight.]
1. To tell or utter so that another may write down; to inspire; to compose; as, to dictate a letter to an amanuensis. The mind which dictated the Iliad. Wayland. Pages dictated by the Holy Spirit. Macaulay.
2. To say; to utter; to communicate authoritatively; to deliver (a command) to a subordinate; to declare with authority; to impose; as, to dictate the terms of a treaty; a general dictates orders to his troops. Whatsoever is dictated to us by God must be believed. Watts.
Syn.
– To suggest; prescribe; enjoin; command; point out; urge; admonish.
Dic"tate, v. i.
1. To speak as a superior; to command; to impose conditions (on). Who presumed to dictate to the sovereign. Macaulay.
2. To compose literary works; to tell what shall be written or said by another. Sylla could not skill of letters, and therefore knew not how to dictate. Bacon.
Dic"tate, n. Etym: [L. dictatum. See Dictate, v. t.]
Definition: 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. I credit what the Grecian dictates say. Prior.
Syn.
– Command; injunction; direction suggestion; impulse; admonition.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
31 March 2025
(adjective) done or made using whatever is available; “crossed the river on improvised bridges”; “the survivors used jury-rigged fishing gear”; “the rock served as a makeshift hammer”
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
