Edict

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

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
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  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.