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  1. ipse dixit love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An unsupported assertion, usually by a person of standing; a dictum.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. An assertion without proof; a dogmatic expression of opinion; a dictum.

Wiktionary

  1. rhetoric An unproved proposition that is accepted solely on the authority of someone who is known to have asserted it; a dogmatic statement; a dictum.
  2. An authority who makes such an assertion.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. an unsupported dogmatic assertion

Etymologies

  1. From Latin ipse ("himself") dīxit ("he said"), third-person singular perfect active of dīcō ("say, speak"), a calque of Ancient Greek αὐτός (autos) ἔφα (epha). Originally used by the followers of Pythagoreanism, who claimed this or that proposition to be uttered by Pythagoras himself. (Wiktionary)
  2. From Latin ipse dīxit, he himself said (it) : ipse, he himself + dīxit, third person sing. perfect tense of dīcere, to say. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Not until he clothe himself in thunder, and make the lightning his girdle; till he wear the sun for a crown, the moon for a breastplate; the stars costly jewels encircling his brow, and the rainbow as his phylactery; not until his ipse dixit cause the immoveable pillars and imperishable foundations of the throne of the universe to crumble, and his breath extinguish the fires of immortality which glow in the bosom of Diety.”

    Life of Rev. A. Crooks, A. M.

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hypernyms (3)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. asseveration
  1. averment
  1. assertion

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Lists

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Comments

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  • slumry Literally, "he himself said it." Jul 11, 2007

  • slumry Easy does it! Jul 11, 2007

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‘ipse dixit’ has been looked up 1955 times, loved by 1 person, added to 5 lists, commented on 2 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.