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

Fiala’s predecessor, Andrej Babis, is similarly aligned with Fico’s camp, a populist wary of E.U. diktat and more friendly to Moscow. —Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024

Netanyahu’s plan rejects any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state and all international diktats regarding the terms of a permanent Israeli-Palestinian agreement. —Ehud Barak, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2024

Asian countries would not eagerly accept Beijing’s diktats, but absent Washington’s intervention, their options would be limited. —Andrew S. Erickson, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2024

Many of the measures were approved by an overwhelming majority of the judges, with an Israeli judge even voting in favor of two of the half dozen diktats imposed. —Alexander Smith, NBC News, 26 Jan. 2024

Doctors carry themselves with an aura of authority that is often combined with an aversion to answering questions in favor of issuing diktats. —Matt Farwell, Harper's Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023

Even though such an accord would not require countries to cede national authority and follow diktats of the WHO in a health emergency, it is already being framed as such in some quarters. —Helen Branswell, STAT, 22 Dec. 2023

Rural aristocrats, whose writ once determined tribal policy, are now subject to the diktats of young militia commanders. —Alex De Waal, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2023

Some workers at Tesla, for one, have tried to unionize, while many white-collar workers at the big Wall Street firms initially resisted return-to-the-office diktats last year. —Phil Wahba, Fortune, 12 July 2023

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

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!