| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| dictum |
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| SYLLABICATION: | dic·tum |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  d k t m |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. dic·ta (-t) or dic·tums
1. An authoritative, often formal pronouncement: “He cites Augustine's dictum that ‘If you understand it, it is not God’” (Joseph Sobran). 2. Law See obiter dictum (sense 1). | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin, from neuter past participle of d cere, to say. See deik- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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