dic-, dict-

An arrogant practice; a negative method of action or behavior: "The company supervisor was known for his occasional dictatorialism and this resulted in many of his employees resenting his harsh treatment."

In an overbearingly, domineering manner: "The group of teenagers Mr. Scott had to teach in school were extremely overactive and disruptive; so, because of this he had learned to treat them in a dictatorially stern manner."

1. The manner in which something is expressed in words: The TV reporter's diction made his choice or selection of words and phrases very easy to understand.
2. A verbal style of writing or speaking: The politician's speech was so full of careless diction that no one considered him qualified and so he lost the election.
3. Etymology: from Latin dictio, "mode of expression, a saying"; from dicere, "to speak, to say". © ALL rights are reserved.

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A maker of lexicons; a lexicographer: "It takes many, many years for a dictionarian to compile words, parts of speech, definitions, example sentences, and, if possible, etymologies of these words.”

1. A book dealing with the individual words of a language, or certain specified classes of them, so as to set forth their orthographies, pronunciations, their synonyms, derivations, and histories; or at least some of these facts. "For the convenience of references, the words in dictionaries are usually arranged in some stated order; such as, alphabetically, etc."

“In most schools, English teachers have their students learn to use a dictionary to look up unknown vocabulary words which they can use in their essays."

2. Etymology: from Latin dictio-, "the act of speaking"; and dictionarius, "a collection of words".

Dictionary sources of information:

A publication that is bound to provide humor which emphasizes linguicomedy or definitional wit: "A dictionary of lexicomedy provides examples of facetious or humorous definitions."

Someone who makes it his or her business to criticize the styles used in language: "While reading through an article which was to be presented in a scientific magazine, the dictioneer found many aspects of phrasing in the composition which needed improving.”

1. A saying or utterance: sometimes used with emphasis upon the fact that it is a mere saying; but more often with the implication of a formal pronouncement claiming or carrying some authority: Medical doctors are required to follow the dictum of "First, do no harm."
2. A short statement that expresses a general truth or principle: There is an old dictum which states that blood is thicker than water.
3. A thing that is generally said; a current saying; a maxim: The elderly woman had a dictum that stated that, "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."
4. In Law, an expression of an opinion by a judge on a matter of law, which is not the formal resolution or determination of a court: The judge repeated his legal brief as if it were the dictum of a higher court.
5. Etymology: derived from the Latin word dicere, "to say". © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. A mark; such as, (") which is used to indicate the word above it should be repeated: "When filling out the application form for a job, Alfred used dittos to show that the information which was wanted was the same as that which he had just written in the space above it."
2. Used instead of repeating something that has just been said to indicate that the same thing applies to you; such as, "I was bored with that speech." "Ditto for me, too."
3. A duplicate; a copy: "It was amazing! The son was a complete ditto of his father!"
4. Etymology: from Tuscan dialect ditto, "(in) the said (month or year)"; from Italian detto, past participle of dire, "to say"; from Latin dicere, "a saying, an expression, a word"; from dic-, stem of dicere, "to speak, to tell, to say".

Originally, "ditto" was used in Italian to avoid the repetition of month names in a series of dates; generalized meaning of "same as above" was first recorded in English in 1678.

A sign (") indicating a repetition which is usually put under a word, a number, or a passage that is supposed to be repeated: "Since there were so many words that were the same for each answer in the survey, Josh used ditto marks to indicate which ones were the same as the ones shown above."

Marcus filled out answers for numbers 2-4 with ditto marks:

1. Do you like ice cream? Yes
2. Do you like chocolate candy? "
3. Do you like cookies? "
4. Do you like apple crumble? "

A letter or a series of letters unintentionally repeated by a writer when reproducing a text: "As a reporter, Jane was under pressure to complete several articles as quickly as possible. Before submitting her work for publication in the newspaper, she saw some dittograms, or written duplications of letters and phrases, and so she corrected them."

1. A passage containing accidentally reduplicated syllables, letters, etc.: "Although the secretary had a terrible headache that day, her boss made her type up the letter he had dictated to her earlier. After reading it again, she found many dittographs which appeared throughout the last paragraph which had to be corrected."
2. A letter or word that is repeated unintentionally in writing or when copying written contents: "While Mary was reading through her thesis, she found some mistakes, including dittographs which somehow reappeared on every page!"

1. Descriptive of a mistaken repetition of letters, words, or phrases, by a writer or someone who reproduces written material: "As a professional editor of short stories and novels, Sam had to be aware of dittographic contents when authors submit their creations to him."
2. Etymology: from Latin dittos, "double"; from dictus a form of dicere, "to say" + Greek graphien, "to scratch, to draw", then Greek graphikos, "write" and via Latin graphicus, graphe, "writing, drawing".

1. Double writing; the unintentional repetition of a letter or a word, or a series of letters or words, by a copyist: "The written material had some dittographies, or unintentionally repeated words, all of which had to be deleted from the context or be corrected."
2. Etymology: from Greek dittos, "double" + graphy; from Greek -graphia, "writing, drawing".