DECREE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Decree

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/dɪkrˈi/ Listen

noun

Decree n.

An order from one having authority, deciding what is to be done by a subordinate; also, a determination by one having power, deciding what is to be done or to take place; edict, law. "The decrees of Venice." "There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed." "Poor hand, why quiverest thou at this decree?"

(Law)

(a)

A decision, order, or sentence, given in a cause by a court of equity or admiralty.

(b)

A determination or judgment of an umpire on a case submitted to him.

(Eccl.) An edict or law made by a council for regulating any business within their jurisdiction; as, the decrees of ecclesiastical councils.

Synonyms: Law; regulation; edict; ordinance. See Law.

verb

Decree v. t. (past & past part. decreed; pres. part. decreeing)

To determine judicially by authority, or by decree; to constitute by edict; to appoint by decree or law; to determine; to order; to ordain; as, a court decrees a restoration of property. "Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee."

To ordain by fate.

Decree v. i. To make decrees; used absolutely. "Father eternal! thine is to decree; Mine, both in heaven and earth to do thy will."

See images of 'Decree'

Etymology of 'Decree'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Decree" Quotes from Famous Books

... rescued from the Confederate usurpers. It is not in human nature that a people fanatically believing themselves a superior race, and thereby rightful legislators over another and inferior race, shall execute justice and equality toward those whom they decree shall be "hewers of wood and drawers of water." No, the black man's guarantee to the protection of his inalienable rights to "life, liberty and property," is bound up in his ...

— The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 2 of 2) • Ida Husted Harper

... ordered, and pray for my soul. I have just now signed my own death-sentence. See, there it lies. I have signed the decree abolishing the order of the Jesuits! I must therefore die, Lorenzo. It is all over and past with our shady place and our recreations. My murderers are already prowling around me, for I tell you I have ...

— The Daughter of an Empress • Louise Muhlbach

... father. In this annoyance the Queen sent an embassy to Solomon asking some act that should establish their son's royal paternity. Promptly Solomon returned the embassy bearing to Sheba's court in far southwest Arabia a royal decree declaring Menelek his son, and accompanied it by a son of each of the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel, enjoined to serve as a sort of ...

— The Red-Blooded Heroes of the Frontier • Edgar Beecher Bronson

... terrified magicians were hurried from the presence of the passionate king, and by his orders were confined; and, moreover, a decree was issued, that all the wise men of Babylon should be put to death. Such was the unholy impulse of a king who had hitherto manifested, on most occasions, a commendable ...

— The Young Captives - A Story of Judah and Babylon • Erasmus W. Jones

... the Gulf of Mexico, that forbidden sea, whence by a Spanish decree, dating from the reign of Philip II., all foreigners were excluded on pain of extermination. [Footnote: Letter of Don Luis de Onis to the Secretary of State, American State Papers, xii. 27, 31.] ...

— France and England in North America, a Series of Historical Narratives, Part Third • Francis Parkman

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