Prior.
Syn. -- Command; injunction; direction suggestion; impulse; admonition.
Dic*ta"tion (?), n. [L. dictatio.] 1. The act of dictating; the act or practice of prescribing; also that which is dictated.
It affords security against the dictation of laws.
Paley.
2. The speaking to, or the giving orders to, in an overbearing manner; authoritative utterance; as, his habit, even with friends, was that of dictation.
Dic*ta"tor (?), n. [L.] 1. One who dictates; one who prescribes rules and maxims authoritatively for the direction of others. Locke.
2. One invested with absolute authority; especially, a magistrate created in times of exigence and distress, and invested with unlimited power.
Invested with the authority of a dictator, nay, of a pope, over our language.
Macaulay.
Dic`ta*to"ri*al (?), a. [Cf. F. dictatorial.] 1. Pertaining or suited to a dictator; absolute.
Military powers quite dictatorial.
W. Irving.
2. Characteristic of a dictator; imperious; dogmatical; overbearing; as, a dictatorial tone or manner.
-- Dic`ta*to"ri*al*ly, adv. -- Dic`ta*to"ri*al*ness, n.