Defn: A statement delivered with authority; an order; a command; an authoritative rule, principle, or maxim; a prescription; as, listen to the dictates of your conscience; the dictates of the gospel. I credit what the Grecian dictates say. Prior.
Syn.
— Command; injunction; direction suggestion; impulse; admonition.
DICTATION
Dic*ta"tion, n. Etym: [L. dictatio.]
1. The act of dictating; the act or practice of prescribing; also that which is dictated. It affords security against the dictation of laws. Paley.
2. The speaking to, or the giving orders to, in an overbearing manner; authoritative utterance; as, his habit, even with friends, was that of dictatio.
DICTATOR
Dic*ta"tor, n. Etym: [L.]
1. One who dictates; one who prescribes rules and maxims authoritatively for the direction of others. Locke.
2. One invested with absolute authority; especially, a magistrate created in times of exigence and distress, and invested with unlimited power. Invested with the authority of a dictator, nay, of a pope, over our language. Macaulay.
DICTATORIAL
Dic`ta*to"ri*al, a. Etym: [Cf. F. dictatorial.]
1. Pertaining or suited to a dictator; absolute. Military powers quite dictatorial. W. Irving.