dictation

noun

dic·​ta·​tion dik-ˈtā-shən 

1

a

: prescription

b

: arbitrary command

2

a(1)

: the act or manner of uttering words to be transcribed

(2)

: material that is dictated or transcribed

b(1)

: the performing of music to be reproduced by a student

(2)

: music so reproduced

Examples of dictation in a Sentence

He used a tape recorder for dictation.

Recent Examples on the Web

The original product, which combined ambient scribing, voice commands and dictation features, has evolved. —Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025

Apple says that the speech recognition models that power dictation may temporarily display words with some phonetic overlap, before landing on the correct word. —Greg Wehner, Fox News, 25 Feb. 2025

On March 3, Microsoft unveiled its Dragon Copilot product, which combines the voice dictation capabilities of its DMO with the ambient listening capabilities of its DAX. —Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025

After decades of keyboard dependency, Ko sees 2025 as a turning point when dictation becomes much more widespread as a human/computer interaction. —Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin dictātiōn-, dictātiō "uttering of material to be transcribed, command" (Latin, "dictated draft"), from Latin dictāre "to say repeatedly, say aloud words to be transcribed by another, issue as an order" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns — more at dictate entry 1

First Known Use

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 2a(2)

Phrases Containing dictation

• take dictation

Rhymes for dictation

• ablation
• bination
• carnation
• cassation
• castration
• causation
• centration
• cessation
• cetacean
• chelation
• citation
• collation

Kids Definition

dictation

noun

dic·​ta·​tion dik-ˈtā-shən 

1

: the act or process of giving commands

2

a

: the dictating of words

write from dictation

b

: something that is dictated or is taken down from dictation