Dictum Meaning
/ˈdɪk.təm/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm.
nounA judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.
Sentence Examples
As Yoda's old dictum goes, "Do or do not. There is no try."
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The judge's final ____ settled the dispute between the two parties.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
As Yoda's old ____ goes,
Word Origin & History
From Latin dictum (“proverb, maxim”), from dictus (“having been said”), perfect passive participle of dico (“to say”). Compare Spanish dicho (“saying”). Doublet of dict.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"This should not surprise us who know that van Gogh wrote: 'To paint and to love women is incompatible'; van Gogh was right for himself, which does not mean that he was right for everybody, and I will not draw from his dictum the probably incorrect conclusion that 'To paint and to love literature is incompatible.'"
— 1918, Walter Lionel George, A Novelist on Novels:
"[…]a dictum which he had heard an economics professor once propound[…]"
— 1949, Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart, Earth Abides:
"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."
— 1951 July, “British Standard Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 438:
"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."
— 1992, Arthur Coleman Danto, Beyond the Brillo Box, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 5:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The judge's final ____ settled the dispute between the two parties.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
As Yoda's old ____ goes,