Decree Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of DECREE

1

:

an official order given by a person with power or by a government

[count]

• The President issued a decree making the day a national holiday.
• The soldiers read the people a royal decree. [=an order given by a king or queen]
• a papal decree [=a decree from a Pope]

[noncount]

• He took his position by decree [=because of a decree] of the national government.
• by royal decree

2

:

an official decision made by a court of law

[count]

• She tried to have the court's decree [=judgment, _ruling_] reversed.
• a divorce decree

[noncount]

• Their marriage was annulled by judicial decree.

Britannica Dictionary definition of DECREE

:

to order or decide (something) in an official way

[+ object]

• The government decreed a national holiday.
• The change was decreed by the President.
• The City Council has decreed that all dogs must be kept on a leash.

[no object]

• He was favored to win, but fate decreed otherwise. [=it was not his fate to win; he did not win]