dictation

American  

[dik-tey-shuhn] / dɪkˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act or manner of dictating for reproduction in writing.

2. the act or manner of transcribing words uttered by another.

3. words that are dictated or that are reproduced from dictation.

4. the playing or singing of music to be notated by a listener, especially as a technique of training the ear.

5. music notated from dictation.

6. the act of commanding arbitrarily.

7. something commanded.

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dictation British  

/ dɪkˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of dictating material to be recorded or taken down in writing

2. the material dictated

3. authoritative commands or the act of giving them

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Other Word Forms

• dictational adjective
• nondictation noun

Etymology

Origin of dictation

1650–60; < Late Latin dictātiōn- (stem of dictātiō ) a dictating < Latin dictāt ( us ) ( dictate ) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

If your boss asks you to take dictation, then she’s going to say stuff out loud that she wants you to document in writing. When she begins dictation make sure you write down everything she says — no doodling. If you’re a famous writer you might hire someone to take dictation so you can just speak and someone will write or type what you say. Dictation can describe the process of documenting spoken words, or the written words themselves. If you see an old movie with a man in a suit telling his secretary, "take this down," he's about to give dictation. A dictation can also be a command, like your dad's dictation that you mow the lawn.

Example Sentences

An OpenAI spokeswoman says that the company has seen a big uptick in adoption of dictation and conversation mode in the ChatGPT apps in the past year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 24, 2026

Speech-to-text programs are becoming more popular for everyday tasks like hands-free dictation, helping people who are visually impaired, and transcribing speech for those who are hard of hearing.

From Science Daily • Nov. 21, 2024

The Champs-Élysées Committee has staged other open-air events in the past, including a mass movie showing and the world’s largest dictation event.

From Seattle Times • May 26, 2024

Typing, voice dictation technology or my usual chicken scratch would’ve done the job far faster.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2024

Kay had evidently been doing his dictation well and the old gentleman was in a good humour.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Related Words

• transcription