Edict \E"dict\, n. [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.
[1913 Webster]
It stands as an edict in destiny. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
edict
n 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]
WordNet (r) 2.0
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
EDICT. A law ordained by the sovereign, by which he forbids or commands
something it extends either to the whole country, or only to some particular
provinces.
2. Edicts are somewhat similar to public proclamations. Their
difference consists in this, that the former have authority and form of law
in themselves, whereas the latter are at most, declarations of a law, before
enacted by congress, or the legislature.
3. Among the Romans this word sometimes signified, a citation to appear
before a judge. The edict of the emperors, also called constitutiones
principum, were new laws which they made of their own motion, either to
decide cases which they had foreseen, or to abolish or change some ancient
laws. They were different from their rescripts or decrees. These edicts were
the sources which contributed to the formation of the Gregorian,
Hermogenian, Theodosian, and Justinian Codes. Vide Dig. 1, 4, 1, 1; Inst. 1,
2, 7; Code, 1, 1 Nov. 139.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
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