edict Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a formal or authoritative proclamation
  2. noun a legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge)
    fiat; decree; order; rescript.
    • a friend in New Mexico said that the order caused no trouble out there

WordNet

E"dict noun
Etymology
L. edictum, fr. edicere, edictum, to declare, proclaim; e out + dicere to say: cf. F. édit. See Diction.
Definitions
  1. A public command or ordinance by the sovereign power; the proclamation of a law made by an absolute authority, as if by the very act of announcement; a decree; as, the edicts of the Roman emperors; the edicts of the French monarch.
    It stands as an edict in destiny. Shak.
    Syn. -- Decree; proclamation; law; ordinance; statute; rule; order; manifesti; command. See Law.

Webster 1913