dictum

Etymology

From Latin dictum (“proverb, maxim”), from dictus (“having been said”), perfect passive participle of dico (“I say”). Compare Spanish dicho (“saying”).

noun

1. An authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm.
   […]a dictum which he had heard an economics professor once propound[…] 1949, Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart, Earth Abides
   But this is not the philosophical revolution of which I speak. What Warhol's dictum amounted to was that you cannot tell when something is a work of art just by looking at it, for there is no particular way that art has to look. 1992, Arthur Coleman Danto, Beyond the Brillo Box, University of California Press, page 5
2. A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.
3. The report of a judgment made by one of the judges who has given it.
4. An arbitrament or award.