3 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

edict

noun

1: a formal or authoritative proclamation

2: a legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge); "a friend in New Mexico said that the order caused no trouble out there" [syn: {decree}, {fiat}, {order}, {rescript}]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Edict \E"dict\, noun [L. edictum, fr. edicere, edictum, to declare, proclaim; e out + dicere to say: cf. F. ['e]dit. See {Diction}.] 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.

{Edict of Nantes} (French Hist.), an edict issued by Henry IV. (A. D. 1598), giving toleration to Protestants. Its revocation by Louis XIV. (A. D. 1685) was followed by terrible persecutions and the expatriation of thousands of French Protestants.

Syn: Decree; proclamation; law; ordinance; statute; rule; order; manifesti; command. See {Law}.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

70 Moby Thesaurus words for "edict": act, announcement, annunciation, appointment, bill, brevet, bull, bulletin board, bylaw, canon, circular, communique, declaration, decree, decree-law, decreement, decretal, decretum, dictate, dictation, dictum, diktat, directive, edictum, enactment, encyclical, enunciation, fiat, form, formality, formula, formulary, institution, instrument, ipse dixit, jus, law, legislation, lex, manifesto, measure, notice, notification, order, ordinance, ordonnance, position paper, precept, prescript, prescription, proclamation, program, programma, pronouncement, pronunciamento, public notice, regulation, report, rescript, rubric, rule, ruling, senatus consult, senatus consultum, standing order, statement, statute, ukase, white book, white paper

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