Dictum

Quick meaning: Dictum is a noun meaning An authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm.

Meaning

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

More Meanings

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

Example Sentences

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

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.

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.'

Word Forms

• dicta
• dictums

Synonyms for dictum

Depending on context, synonyms include pronouncement, say-so.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include pronouncement, say-so, opinion, principle, precept, maxim.

Related Dictionary Tools