dic·tate 
(dĭktāt′, dĭk-tāt)
(dĭktāt′, dĭk-tāt)v. dic·tat·ed, dic·tat·ing, dic·tates
v.tr.
1. To say or read aloud to be recorded or written by another: dictate a letter.
2.
a. To prescribe with authority; impose: dictated the rules of the game.
b. To control or command: "Foreign leaders were ... dictated by their own circumstances, bound by the universal imperatives of politics" (Doris Kearns Goodwin).
v.intr.
1. To say or read aloud material to be recorded or written by another: dictated for an hour before leaving for the day.
2. To issue orders or commands.
n. (dĭktāt′)
1. A directive; a command.
2.
a. An underlying constraint: "These men make numerous decisions affecting how they organize their lives according to the dictates of time and place" (William Marsiglio).
b. A guiding principle: followed the dictates of my conscience.
[Latin dictāre, dictāt-, frequentative of dīcere, to say; see deik- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]