Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Edict"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
It stands as an edict in destiny. --Shak.
{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}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
edict
n : 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}]
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