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dictate

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To dictate is defined as to command or order something to be done or to say words so they can be taped or written down.

(verb)

An example of dictate is when you order someone to complete tasks on a list.
An example of dictate is when you tell your secretary what to write in a letter for you.

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See dictate in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb, intransitive verb dictated, dictating

to speak or read (something) aloud for someone else to write down
to prescribe or command forcefully
to impose or give (orders) with or as with authority
to give (orders or instructions) arbitrarily

Origin: < L dictatus, pp. of dictare, freq. of dicere, to speak: see diction

noun

an authoritative command
a guiding principle or requirement: the dictates of conscience

See dictate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb dic·tat·ed, dic·tat·ing, dic·tates

verb, transitive

To say or read aloud to be recorded or written by another: dictate a letter.
a. To prescribe with authority; impose: dictated the rules of the game.
b. To control or command: “Foreign leaders were . . . dictated by their own circumstances, bound by the universal imperatives of politics” (Doris Kearns Goodwin).

verb, intransitive

To say or read aloud material to be recorded or written by another: dictated for an hour before leaving for the day.
To issue orders or commands.

noun (dĭkˈtātˌ)

A directive; a command.
A guiding principle: followed the dictates of my conscience.

Origin:

Origin: Latin dictāre, dictāt-

Origin: , frequentative of dīcere, to say; see deik- in Indo-European roots

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