Etymology: Probably partly < classical Latin dictātum thing dictated (usually in plural dictāta things dictated, lessons, rules, precepts, exercises; use as noun of neuter past participle of dictāre dictate v.), partly < post-classical Latin dictatus written work, treatise, report (late 5th cent.), action of dictating (6th cent.), decision, command (c1000 in a British source; < classical Latin dictāt- , past participial stem of dictāre + -tus , suffix forming verbal nouns), and partly < dictate v. Compare dictum n., diktat n., dictation n. N.E.D. (1895) gives the pronunciation as (di·ktĕt) /ˈdɪktət/, hence distinct from either of the pronunciations it gives for dictate v., but other sources (e.g. Sheridan (1780), Walker (1791)) give the same pronunciation as for dictate v.

Etymology: < classical Latin dictāt-, past participial stem (see -ate suffix³) of dictāre to say habitually or repeatedly, to indicate (matter to be written down), to compose, draw up, to prescribe, order, a frequentative formation < dīcere to say, tell (see dictum n.). Compare Middle French, French dicter to state or express in the form of words which are to be written down, to compose, draft (14th cent.), to prescribe, stipulate (14th cent.), Old Occitan dictar to say, to pronounce, to compose, to prescribe; and also Catalan dictar (14th cent.), Spanish dictar (13th cent.), Portuguese ditar (14th cent.), Italian dettare, (now archaic) dittare (a1292), also Middle Dutch, Dutch dicteren (15th cent.), German diktieren (15th cent.), all in sense ‘to dictate (a text)’ and in most cases also in sense ‘to specify, prescribe’.Most sources until the late 19th cent. indicate only stress on the first syllable. N.E.D. (1895) gives the pronunciation as (diktēⁱ·t, di·kteⁱt) /dɪkˈteɪt/, /ˈdɪkteɪt/. Stress on the second syllable is usual in British sources from the early 20th cent. onwards.