dictum means An authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 73 out of 100.
Why this word is great
DICTUM — [Noun] An authoritative, often formal statement or pronouncement, especially one expressing a general truth or principle. From Latin dictum ("thing said, proverb, maxim"), from dictus ("having been said"), perfect passive participle of dico ("to say"). Unlike a maxim, a polished capsule of moral wisdom, or an obiter dictum, a judge's incidental aside, a dictum is the assertion of authority itself—a truth declared rather than discovered. It is the immutable law chiseled on the courthouse portico, the pronouncement from the head of the table that ends all debate, and the terse, remembered phrase from a forgotten lecture that lodges in the mind. These are the brittle pillars we erect against the shifting sands of actual experience.
noun
- An authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm.“This should not surprise us who know that van Gogh wrote: 'To paint and to love women is incompatible'; van Gogh was right for himself, which does not mean that he was right for everybody, and I will not draw from his dictum the probably incorrect conclusion that 'To paint and to love literature is incompatible.'”
- A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.
- The report of a judgment made by one of the judges who has given it.
- An arbitrament or award.