dictum
English
Etymology
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
Noun
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
Related terms
Translations
|
See also
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈdik.tum/, [ˈd̪ɪkt̪ʊ̃ˑ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈdik.tum/, [ˈd̪ikt̪um]
Etymology 1
Neuter form of dictus (“said, spoken”), past passive participle of dīcō (“to say, to speak”).
Noun
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
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
Descendants
- Asturian: dichu
- Friulian: dit
- Judeo-Italian: דִיטוֹ (diṭo /ditto/)
- Italian: detto
- Old French: dit
- Piedmontese: dit
- Spanish: dicho
- Venetan: 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
- “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
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Participle
dictum
- inflection of dictus:
Verb
dictum
- accusative supine of dīcō
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
dictum n (definite singular dictumet, indefinite plural dicta or dictum, definite plural dicta or dictaa or dictai or dictuma or dictumi)
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin dictum.
Pronunciation
Noun
dictum n
Declension
Further reading
- dictum in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- dictum in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Spanish
Pronunciation
Noun
dictum m (plural dictums)
Further reading
- “dictum”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), 23rd edition, Royal Spanish Academy, 2014 October 16
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *deyḱ-
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɪktəm
- Rhymes:English/ɪktəm/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English terms with quotations
- en:Directives
- Latin 2-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin second declension nouns
- Latin neuter nouns in the second declension
- Latin neuter nouns
- Latin words in Meissner and Auden's phrasebook
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin participle forms
- Latin verb forms
- la:Directives
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms spelled with C
- Norwegian Nynorsk neuter nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk pre-2012 forms
- Polish terms borrowed from Latin
- Polish unadapted borrowings from Latin
- Polish terms derived from Latin
- Polish 2-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Polish/iktum
- Rhymes:Polish/iktum/2 syllables
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish neuter nouns
- Polish literary terms
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/um
- Rhymes:Spanish/um/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns