Etymograph

English

decree

Decree comes from Latin dēcrētum.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēcrētum1
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400decré2
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500decre2‘an instrument carrying a legal decision’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1594decree2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old French decré
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English decree
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto): “Poor hand, why quiverest thou at this decree?”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēcrētumWiktionary, Old French decré
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400decréWiktionary, English decree
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500decreWiktionary, English decree‘an instrument carrying a legal decision’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1594decreeWiktionary, English decree. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto): “Poor hand, why quiverest thou at this decree?”

Every English word from Latin dēcrētum

Today it means

noun An edict or law.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “decree”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old French decré. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin dēcrētum / decree

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