decree meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

decree

noun

/dɪˈkɹiː/ · [dɪˈkʰɹʷɪi̯]

Etymology From Middle English decre, decree, from Old French decré (French décret), from Latin dēcrētum.

An edict or law.

There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 2:1:
Poor hand, why quiverest thou at this decree?1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC:

Law The judicial decision in a litigated cause rendered by a court of equity.

Law The determination of a cause in a court of admiralty or court of probate.

Lifestyle, Religion A predetermination made by God; an act of providence.

Derived terms: consent decree, counterdecree, decree absolute, decree arbitral, decree nisi, decreer, decree time, final decree, imperial decree, postdecree, predecree

verb

Etymology From Middle English decre, decree, from Old French decré (French décret), from Latin dēcrētum.

To command by a decree.

A court decrees a restoration of property.
Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 22:28:

2 more examples

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree: / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran / Through caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea.1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Kubla Khan: Or A Vision in a Dream”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 55:
The Nhasangs themselves are from Ngaba, which is in the Amdo region of northeastern Tibetan, a cultural borderland where Tibetan and Sichuan traditions meet. China has decreed that Ngaba is within Sichuan Province.2022 November 8, Pete Wells, “Restaurant Review: Why Does This Tibetan Kitchen Also Cook Sichuan Food?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Nov 2022, Food: