From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Precept \Pre"cept\, noun [L. praeceptum, from praecipere to take beforehand, to instruct, teach; prae before + capere to take: cf. F. pr['e]cepte. See {Pre-}, and {Capacious}.]
1. Any commandment, instruction, or order intended as an authoritative rule of action; esp., a command respecting moral conduct; an injunction; a rule.
For precept must be upon precept. --Isa. xxviii. 10.
No arts are without their precepts. --Dryden.
2. (Law) A command in writing; a species of writ or process. --Burrill.
Syn: Commandment; injunction; mandate; law; rule; direction; principle; maxim. See {Doctrine}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Precept \Pre"cept\, verb (used with an object) To teach by precepts. [Obs.] --Bacon.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: rule of personal conduct [syn: {principle}]
2: a doctrine that is taught; "the teachings of religion"; "he believed all the Christian precepts" [syn: {teaching}, {commandment}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
100 Moby Thesaurus words for "precept": a belief, adage, ana, analects, aphorism, apophthegm, apothegm, article of faith, axiom, behest, bench warrant, bidding, byword, canon, capias, catchword, caveat, charge, code, collected sayings, commandment, current saying, death warrant, decree, decretum, dictate, dictum, direction, directive, distich, doctrine, dogma, edict, epigram, expression, fiat, fieri facias, fundamental, general orders, gnome, golden saying, guide, guideline, habere facias possessionem, injunction, instruction, interdict, law, mandamus, mandate, mandatory injunction, maxim, mittimus, moral, mot, motto, nisi prius, notice, notification, oracle, order, ordinance, phrase, pithy saying, prescript, prescription, principle, process, prohibitory injunction, proverb, proverbial saying, proverbs, regulation, rule, saw, saying, search warrant, sentence, sententious expression, slogan, sloka, statute, stock saying, sutra, teaching, tenet, text, ukase, unwritten law, verse, warrant, warrant of arrest, warrant of attorney, wisdom, wisdom literature, wise saying, witticism, word, words of wisdom, writ
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