Precept

5 definitions found

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

  Precept \Pre"cept\, v. t.
     To teach by precepts. [Obs.] --Bacon.
     [1913 Webster]

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



  Precept \Pre"cept\, n. [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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              For precept must be upon precept.     --Isa. xxviii.
                                                    10.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              No arts are without their precepts.   --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Law) A command in writing; a species of writ or process.
        --Burrill.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Commandment; injunction; mandate; law; rule; direction;
          principle; maxim. See {Doctrine}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  precept
       n 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
  
  

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

  PRECEPT. A writ directed to the sheriff or other officer, commanding him to 
  do something. The term is derived from the operative praecipimus, we 
  command.