diktat

noun

dik·​tat dik-ˈtät 

1

: a harsh settlement unilaterally imposed (as on a defeated nation)

2

: decree, order

Did you know?

In diktat you might recognize the English word dictate. Both words derive from Latin dictare ("to assert" or "to dictate"), a form of dicere ("to say"). Diktat passed through German where it meant "something dictated." Dictate can mean both "to speak words aloud to be transcribed" and "to issue a command or injunction," the sense of the word that gave us dictator. Germans, beginning with Prince Wilhelm, used diktat in a negative way to refer to the Treaty of Versailles, the document ending World War I. Today diktat can be used as a critical term for even minor regulations felt to be unfair or authoritarian.

Synonyms

• bull
• decree
• directive
• edict
• fiat
• rescript
• ruling
• ukase

Examples of diktat in a Sentence

The company president issued a diktat that employees may not wear jeans to work.

a democratic government has to be something wanted by that nation's citizens and not something created by a foreign power's diktat

Recent Examples on the Web

Interrupting Jewish performers had been a tactic of theirs since the 1920s, and two months earlier, the Stormtroopers’ cultural office had issued a diktat to its members warning them about certain theaters. —Tomas Weber, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Oct. 2024

In some respects, a diktat was already announced last summer by reducing remote working to two days per week, with badges checked and email reprimands for employees who fail to toe the line. —Anna Zanardi Cappon, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024

And while the Saltburn star’s petite accessory looks neat in its singular position, trinkets follow the messy-bag diktat decreed by Miuccia Prada for spring 2024. —Alice Newbold, Vogue, 23 Sep. 2024

Pursuing that outcome would represent neither a capitulation to terrorism nor a submission to American diktats. —Ami Ayalon, Foreign Affairs, 11 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Diktat "imposition, command," borrowed from Medieval Latin dictātum — more at dictate entry 2

First Known Use

1933, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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