diktat

Borrowed from German Diktat, from Latin dictātum (“that which has been dictated”), from the perfect passive participle of dictō (“dictate”). Doublet of dictate. Originally used with reference to Germany's penalties as dictated by the Treaty of Versailles.

• Rhymes: -ɒt
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪktæt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪkˈtɑt/, /ˈdɪktɑt/

diktat (countable and uncountable, plural diktats)

1. A dogmatic decree or command, especially issued by one who rules without popular consent.

   Synonym: ukase

   • 1964 May, “News and Comment: Minister hamstrings BR workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 291:

     Whatever the pressures that have invoked the Minister's diktat, the outcome is Gilbertian.

   • 1982, Steven L. Sampson, The Planners and the Peasants:

     Today, regional diktat is now supplemented (though not wholly replaced) by other means of recruiting elites.

   • 2005, Vitaly Naumkin, Radical Islam in Central Asia: Between Pen and Rifle, page 179:

     It should be noted that Saddam's power was held up by fear and diktat.

   • 2018, Julian Sanchez, “Brand Loyalty”, in Just Security:

     Trump—according not to the paranoid fears of his opponents, but his own professed desires—would have the government’s law enforcement institutions act as political weapons, aimed by his diktat.

   • 2022 March 30, “It's 1 a.m. on Thursday in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     He added that “the issues are still the same” and that Russian President Putin “still wishes to impose his diktat on Ukraine.”

   • 2025 April 17, Linda Feldmann, “How Donald Trump is upending American culture”, in The Christian Science Monitor‎^[2], archived from the original on 20 April 2025:

     But amid all the disruption and norm-breaking, it’s Mr. Trump’s apparently keen interest in shaping American culture that may be most intriguing. To critics, it’s nothing less than a sign of his authoritarian bent – reminiscent of the Stalin-esque playbook that made government diktats over artistic expression a feature of the old Soviet Union.

   • 2025 July 26, Chris Lau and Joyce Jiang, “Joking about her abusive husband launched this Chinese comedian to stardom. The authorities aren’t laughing”, in CNN‎^[3]:

     Traditional social codes can sometimes prove as strict as any government diktat. Late last year, Chinese e-commerce giant JD faced a boycott by customers infuriated by its casting of trailblazing woman comedian Yang Li in a promotional live stream.

2. (dated) A harsh penalty or settlement imposed upon a defeated party by the victor.
   • 1948, E L Hasluck, “Nazi Germany Prepares for the War”, in The Second World War‎^[4], London: Blackie and Son, page 13:

     Even Hitler's success in capturing the allegiance of the masses was due far more to this programmes of social reform than to his denunciations of the Diktats of Versailles or his belief in an expansionist future for Germany.

• dictate

• dictat

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

diktat m (plural diktats)

1. diktat

• → Turkish: dikta

• “diktat”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

From Dutch dictaat, from Latin dictātum.

• IPA^(key): [ˈdɪktat]
• Hyphenation: dik‧tat

diktat

1. dictated text
2. prepared text
3. (extension) note, a brief piece of writing intended to assist the memory; a memorandum; a minute
4. (education) lecture note

• “diktat”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

From Latin dictātum.

• IPA^(key): /dɪkˈtɑːt/

diktat m (definite singular diktaten, indefinite plural diktater, definite plural diktatene)

1. dictation, dictating
2. a text which is written after hearing
3. (education) an orthography exam in which students write down what the teacher says

diktat n (definite singular diktatet, uncountable)

1. something which is dictated; orders

• dikt
• diktere

• “diktat” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Latin dictātum.

• IPA^(key): /dɪkˈtɑːt/

diktat m (definite singular diktaten, indefinite plural diktatar, definite plural diktatane)

1. dictation, dictating
2. a text which is written after hearing
3. (education) an orthography exam in which students write down what the teacher says

diktat n (definite singular diktatet, uncountable)

1. something which is dictated; orders

• dikt
• diktere

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /²dɪk.tɑ(t)/

diktat

1. supine of dikta
   • 1861, Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Ferdaminni fraa Sumaren 1860, volume II, page 30:

     Kvat er det ikki for Usans Wergeland hever diktat um Konge og Dronning?

     What kind of nonsense is it not that Wergeland has versified about King and Queen?

• “diktat” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

dìktāt m inan (Cyrillic spelling дѝкта̄т)

1. dictate

diktat m (plural diktats)

1. diktat

Borrowed from Latin dictātum, from dictāre. Cognate with English dictate, German Diktat, French dictée.

diktat n

1. diktat

• diktera
• diktator
• diktatur

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

diktat

1. supine of dikta

diktat

1. indefinite neuter singular of diktad