precept

English

Alternative forms

• præcept (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praeceptum, form of praecipiō (“to teach”), from Latin prae (“pre-”) + capiō (“take”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹiːsɛpt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːsɛpt

Noun

precept (plural precepts)

1. A rule or principle, especially one governing personal conduct.

   Precept guides, but example draws.

   • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2:

     By Heav’ns, ſuch Virtues, join’d with ſuch Succeſs,
     Diſtract my very Soul: Our Father’s Fortune
     Wou’d almoſt tempt us to renounce his Precepts.

   • 1891, Susan Hale, Mexico (The Story of the Nations), volume 27, London: T. Fisher Unwin, page 80:

     He found a people in the extreme of barbarism living in caves, feeding upon the bloody flesh of animals they killed in hunting; he taught them many things, so that by his example, and for generations after he left them by his precepts, they advanced to high civilization.

   • 2006, Theodore Dalrymple, The Gift of Language‎^[1]:

     I need hardly point out that Pinker doesn't really believe anything of what he writes, at least if example is stronger evidence of belief than precept.

2. (law) A written command, especially a demand for payment.
3. (UK) An order issued by one local authority to another specifying the rate of tax to be charged on its behalf.
   1. A rate or tax set by a precept.
      • The Parish Council is financed by raising a small levy - the precept - on all residential properties within the parish. [2]

Translations

rule or principle governing personal conduct

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: предписание (bg) n (predpisanie), наставление (bg) n (nastavlenie)
• Catalan: precepte (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 戒律 (gaai³ leot⁶), 準則／准则 (zeon² zak¹)

• Czech: zásada (cs) f
• Dutch: regel (nl) m, gedragsregel (nl) m, principe (nl)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: sääntö (fi), ohje (fi), ohjenuora
• French: précepte (fr) m
• Friulian: precet m
• Georgian: პრინციპი (ka) (ṗrinciṗi), წესი (ka) (c̣esi), მცნება (mcneba)
• German: Gebot (de), Vorschrift (de), Grundsatz (de) m, Maxime (de) f
• Greek: κανόνας (el) m (kanónas), εντολή (el) f (entolí)

  Ancient: ἔνταλμα f (éntalma)

• Hindi: शैली (hi) (śailī), शील (hi) (śīl)
• Hungarian: előírás (hu)
• Italian: precetto (it) m
• Latin: praeceptum n
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Occitan: precèpte (oc) m
• Plautdietsch: Väaschreft f
• Portuguese: preceito (pt)
• Romagnol: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: precept (ro) n
• Russian: при́нцип (ru) m (príncip), за́поведь (ru) f (zápovedʹ), заве́т (ru) m (zavét)
• Sanskrit: उपदेश (sa) m (upadeśa)
• Spanish: precepto (es) m
• Swedish: föreskrift (sv), regel (sv) c, rättesnöre (sv) n
• Tagalog: sawikain
• Thai: ศีล (th) (sǐin)
• Turkish: ta'lim, ögreti, ta'lim buyurmak

Verb

precept (third-person singular simple present precepts, present participle precepting, simple past and past participle precepted)

1. (intransitive, chiefly US, medicine) To act as a preceptor; to teach a physician-in-training by supervising their clinical practice.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To teach (something) by precepts.
   • 1603 (date written), [Francis] Bacon, “Valerius Terminus: Of the Interpretation of Nature; with the Annotations of Hermes Stella. Chapter XI. The Chapter Immediately Following the Inventary; Being the 11th in Order, a Part thereof.”, in Robert Stephens, compiler, edited by [John Lockyer], Letters and Remains of the Lord Chancellor Bacon, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, published 1734, →OCLC, page 411:

     [T]he tvvo commended rules by him [Aristotle] ſet down, vvhereby the axioms of Sciences are precepted to be made convertible, and vvhich the latter men have not vvithout elegancy ſurnamed; the one the rule of truth, becauſe it preventeth deceipt; the other the rule of prudence, becauſe it freeth election, are the ſame thing in ſpeculation and affirmation, vvhich vve novv obſerve.

Further reading

• “precept, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• percept

Old Irish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin praeceptum, form of praecipiō (“to teach”), from prae (“pre-”) + capiō (“take”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpʲrʲeɡʲept/

Noun

precept f (genitive precepte)

1. verbal noun of pridchaid

For quotations using this term, see Citations:precept.

Inflection

Feminine ā-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	preceptL	preceptL, preceupt	preceptaH
Vocative	preceptL	preceptL, preceupt	preceptaH
Accusative	preceptN, preceupt	preceptL, preceupt	preceptaH
Genitive	precepteH, preceptae	preceptL	preceptN
Dative	preceptL, preceupt	preceptaib	preceptaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
precept	phrecept or unchanged	precept pronounced with /b(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “precept”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French précepte, from Latin praeceptum.

Noun

precept n (plural precepte)

1. precept

Declension

Declension of precept

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) precept	preceptul	(niște) precepte	preceptele
genitive/dative	(unui) precept	preceptului	(unor) precepte	preceptelor
vocative	preceptule		preceptelor