Did you know?
Edicts are few and far between in a democracy, since very few important laws can be made by a president or prime minister acting alone. But when a crisis arose in the Roman Republic, the senate would appoint a dictator, who would have the power to rule by edict. The idea was that the dictator could make decisions quickly, issuing his edicts faster than the senate could act. When the crisis was over, the edicts were canceled and the dictator usually retired from public life. Things are different today: dictators almost always install themselves in power, and they never give it up.
Examples of edict in a Sentence
Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 3 July 2025
Advertisement How the Dalai Lama says his successor will be chosen
Under the 2011 edict, only the Gaden Phrodrang Trust, the office of the Dalai Lama, can identify the next reincarnation.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 2 July 2025
Braun wants to drive down health care costs and expand access in rural areas ― a broad edict the legislature started working on in 2023.
—Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 2 July 2025
No surprise, then, that three district-court judges reviewing the executive order had little trouble finding that the edict was probably unconstitutional, and that three appeals courts that reviewed their work left intact their rulings blocking the order from taking effect.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for edict
Cite this Entry
“Edict.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/edict. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
edict
noun
Share