dictum
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin dictum (“proverb, maxim”), from dictus (“having been said”), perfect passive participle of dico (“I say”). Compare Spanish dicho (“saying”). Doublet of dict.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
dictum (plural dicta or dictums)
- An authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm.
- 1949, Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart, Earth Abides:
- […] a dictum which he had heard an economics professor once propound […]
- 1951 July, “British Standard Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 438:
- 1. The utmost in steam producing capacity permitted by weight and dimensions; in other words, capacity to boil water—H. A. Ivatt's old dictum.
- 1992, Arthur Coleman Danto, Beyond the Brillo Box, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 5:
- But this is not the philosophical revolution of which I speak. What Warhol's dictum amounted to was that you cannot tell when something is a work of art just by looking at it, for there is no particular way that art has to look.
- A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.
- The report of a judgment made by one of the judges who has given it.
- An arbitrament or award.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
authoritative statement
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See also edit
Latin edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈdik.tum/, [ˈd̪ɪkt̪ʊ̃ˑ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈdik.tum/, [ˈd̪ikt̪um]
Etymology 1 edit
Neuter form of dictus (“said, spoken”), past passive participle of dīcō (“to say, to speak”).
Noun edit
dictum n (genitive dictī); second declension
- a word, saying, something said
- proverb, maxim, saw
- bon mot, witticism
- Synonym: dictērium
- verse, poetry
- a prophecy, prediction
- order, command
- promise, assurance
Declension edit
Second-declension noun (neuter).
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | dictum | dicta |
Genitive | dictī | dictōrum |
Dative | dictō | dictīs |
Accusative | dictum | dicta |
Ablative | dictō | dictīs |
Vocative | dictum | dicta |
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
- Asturian: dichu
- Friulian: dit
- Italian: detto
- Old French: dit
- Piedmontese: dit
- Spanish: dicho
- Venetian: dito, dit
- → Dutch: dictum (learned)
- → Indonesian: diktum
- → English: dictum (learned)
- → Middle English: dicte
- English: dict
- → German: Diktum (learned)
- → Proto-West Germanic: *diht (see there for further descendants)
- → Norwegian Nynorsk: diktum (learned)
- → Portuguese: dictum (learned)
- → Spanish: dictum (learned)
Further reading edit
- “dictum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “dictum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- dictum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- dictum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) a short, pointed witticism: breviter et commode dictum
- (ambiguous) a witticism, bon mot: facete dictum
- (ambiguous) a far-fetched joke: arcessitum dictum (De Or. 2. 63. 256)
- (ambiguous) to make jokes on a person: dicta dicere in aliquem
- (ambiguous) to obey a person's orders: dicto audientem esse alicui
- (ambiguous) as I said above: ut supra (opp. infra) diximus, dictum est
- (ambiguous) so much for this subject...; enough has been said on..: ac (sed) de ... satis dixi, dictum est
- (ambiguous) a short, pointed witticism: breviter et commode dictum
Etymology 2 edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Participle edit
dictum
- inflection of dictus:
Verb edit
dictum
- accusative supine of dīcō
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Noun edit
dictum n (definite singular dictumet, indefinite plural dicta or dictum, definite plural dicta or dictaa or dictai or dictuma or dictumi)
Polish edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from Latin dictum.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
dictum n
Declension edit
Declension of dictum
Further reading edit
Spanish edit
Noun edit
dictum m (plural dictums)
Further reading edit
- “dictum”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014