dictate

Plural: dictates

Noun

an authoritative rule
a guiding principle
- "the dictates of reason"
An order or command.

Verb

Verb Forms: dictated, dictating, dictates

To say words aloud to be recorded or written down.
issue commands or orders for
say out loud for the purpose of recording
- "He dictated a report to his secretary"
rule as a dictator
To order, command, control.
To speak in order for someone to write down the words.
To determine or decisively affect.

Examples

I must obey the dictates of my conscience.
She is dictating a letter to a stenographer.
The French teacher dictated a passage from Victor Hugo.
The timer seemed to DICTATE his frantic tile choices in Words With Friends.

Origin / Etymology

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.

Synonyms

order, prescribe

Scrabble Score: 10

dictate: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
dictate: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
dictate: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

dictate: valid Words With Friends Word