dictator
/dɪkˈteɪtə/dik-TAY-tur
/dɪkˈteɪtɚ/dik-TAY-tur
Meaningone who dictates
Common meaning: a ruler with total power
- dictto say, speakLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 570 · scan
- atverb or adjective ending: to make, having
- oragent ending: the doer, or the device that does it
Journey through time
- Latindīcō, dīxī, dictum‘to say, speak’
- Englishdictate‘to speak aloud so another can take it down’
- Englishformed in English from dictatedictator‘a ruler with total power’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from dictate + -or.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DICTATE, p.165 · scan
Roots
- dīcō, dīxī, dictum Latin “to say, speak”
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app