Hypertext Webster Gateway: "precent"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Precent \Pre"cent\, 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.
For precept must be upon precept. --Isa. xxviii.
10.
No arts are without their precepts. --Dryden.
2. (Law) A command in writing; a species of writ or process.
--Burrill.
Syn: Commandment; injunction; mandate; law; rule; direction;
principle; maxim. See {Doctrine}.
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