dictum

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English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

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

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈdɪk.təm/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪktəm

Noun

dictum (plural dicta or dictums)

  1. 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.
  2. A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.
  3. The report of a judgment made by one of the judges who has given it.
  4. An arbitrament or award.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Latin

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Neuter form of dictus (“said, spoken”), past passive participle of dīcō (“to say, to speak”).

Noun

dictum n (genitive dictī); second declension

  1. a word, saying, something said
  2. proverb, maxim, saw
  3. bon mot, witticism
    Synonym: dictērium
  4. verse, poetry
  5. a prophecy, prediction
  6. order, command
  7. 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
  • Italian: detto
  • Old French: dit
  • Piedmontese: dit
  • Spanish: dicho
  • Venetian: dito, dit
  • → Dutch: dictum (learned)
  • → English: dictum (learned)
  • → Middle English: dicte
  • → 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, 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

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

dictum

  1. inflection of dictus:
    1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular
    2. accusative masculine singular

Verb

dictum

  1. 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)

  1. (pre-2012) alternative form of diktum

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin dictum.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdik.tum/
  • Rhymes: -iktum
  • Syllabification: dic‧tum

Noun

dictum n

  1. (literary) dictum (authoritative statement)

Declension

Declension of dictum
singular plural
nominative dictum dicta
genitive dictum dictów
dative dictum dictom
accusative dictum dicta
instrumental dictum dictami
locative dictum dictach
vocative dictum dicta

Further reading

  • dictum in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • dictum in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Noun

dictum m (plural dictums)

  1. dictum

Further reading

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia