dictate

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dictātus, perfect passive participle of dictō (“pronounce or declare repeatedly; dictate”), frequentative of dīcō (“say, speak”).

noun

1. An order or command.
   I must obey the dictates of my conscience.

verb

1. To order, command, control.
   Trademark Owners will nevertheless try to dictate how their marks are to be represented, but dictionary publishers with spine can resist such pressure. 2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press, page 409
2. To speak in order for someone to write down the words.
   She is dictating a letter to a stenographer.
   The French teacher dictated a passage from Victor Hugo.
3. To determine or decisively affect.
   Geology dictates the approximate location of the tunnel. 1961 December, “The Channel Tunnel—a realistic proposal”, in Trains Illustrated, page 723