Dictate: Speaking Words for Someone to Write, and Imposing Terms
To dictate is to speak words for another person to write down. It also means to impose conditions, which is where dictator comes from.
Dictate means to say something that another person must set down or obey. The two senses are the same act at different scales: dictating a letter and dictating terms both mean your words become someone else's instructions.
- To speak for someone to write. *He dictated the letter to his assistant.*
- To impose conditions. *The buyer dictated the terms.*
- To determine. *Cost dictates the design.*
- A ruling principle (noun). *The dictates of conscience.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | dictate | Dictate the notes. |
| Noun | dictation | A dictation exercise. |
| Person | dictator | A military dictator. |
| Adjective | dictatorial | A dictatorial manner. |
| Noun | dictum | A famous dictum. |
How it is used in a sentence
- She dictated her memoirs over two years.The original sense.
- Circumstances dictated a change of plan.Determined — no person involved.
- I will not be dictated to.The passive is the usual form of the complaint.
The speaking family
- Dictate — to say for writing or obedience
- Dictionary — a book of sayings, in origin
- Diction — the manner of speaking
- Verdict — a true saying, from *vere dictum*
- Predict — to say beforehand
- Contradict — to speak against
From Latin *dictare*, to say repeatedly, the frequentative of *dicere*, to say. The Roman *dictator* was originally a legitimate emergency magistrate appointed for six months, not a tyrant.
Where is the stress?
The verb is dic-TATE in British English and DIC-tate in American. The noun is DIC-tate in both.
Was a Roman dictator a tyrant?
Not originally. It was a constitutional office with a fixed term, created for emergencies. The modern meaning came much later.