dictum

CEFRC1

/ˈdɪk.təm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A short statement that expresses an important rule or opinion.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.

Examples

  • As Yoda's old dictum goes, "Do or do not. There is no try."

  • […]a dictum which he had heard an economics professor once propound[…]

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The report of a judgment made by one of the judges who has given it.

  2. An authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm.

  3. An arbitrament or award.

More examples

In context

  • 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.

  • 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.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The judge's final blank settled the dispute between the two parties.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Latin dictum (“proverb, maxim”), from dictus (“having been said”), perfect passive participle of dico (“to say”). Compare Spanish dicho (“saying”). Doublet of dict.