# dictate
## English
### Etymology 1

First attested in 1581; borrowed from Latin dictātum (“a thing said, something dictated”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of dictātus, the perfect passive participle of dictō (“pronounce or declare repeatedly; dictate”), frequentative of dīcō (“say, speak”). Doublet of diktat.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈdɪkˌteɪt/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

#### Noun

dictate (plural dictates)
* An order or command.
    I must obey the dictates of my conscience.

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

First attested in 1577; borrowed from Latin dictātus, perfect passive participle of dictō (“to pronounce or declare repeatedly; to dictate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), frequentative of dīcō (“say, speak”).

#### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌdɪkˈteɪt/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈdɪkˌteɪt/
* Rhymes: -eɪt

#### Verb

dictate (third-person singular simple present dictates, present participle dictating, simple past and past participle dictated)
* To order, command, control.
** 2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 409:Trademark Owners will nevertheless try to dictate how their marks are to be represented, but dictionary publishers with spine can resist such pressure.
* To speak in order for someone to write down the words.
    She is dictating a letter to a stenographer.
    The French teacher dictated a passage from Victor Hugo.
* To determine or decisively affect.
** 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Return to Courtenaye Hall”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 151:He had offered, and been refused! There was that in her own nature, which sympathised with the pride, for such she held to be the motive, dictating the refusal.
** 1961 December, “The Channel Tunnel—a realistic proposal”, in Trains Illustrated, page 723:Geology dictates the approximate location of the tunnel.
** 1977 August 20, David Holland, quoting Tony Bosco, “Tony Bosco”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 19:I didn't lay this bar, or the restaurant for that matter, out on paper. The design was dictated by the materials.

##### Derived terms

* dictatable
* dictater
* dictatingly
* misdictate
* redictate
* undictated
* undictating

##### Related terms

* dictation
* dictator
* dictatress, dictatoress
* dictatrix

##### Translations
### References

* ↑ “dictate, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “dictate (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ “dictate, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “dictate (v.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /dikˈtaː.te/, [d̪ɪkˈt̪äːt̪ɛ]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /dikˈta.te/, [d̪ikˈt̪äːt̪e]

### Participle

dictāte
* vocative masculine singular of dictātus

### Verb

dictāte
* second-person plural present active imperative of dictō

## Spanish
### Verb

dictate
* second-person singular voseo imperative of dictar combined with te