| / English Dictionary |
PRECEPT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A doctrine that is taught
Example:
he believed all the Christian precepts
Synonyms:
commandment; precept; teaching
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("precept" is a kind of...):
doctrine; ism; philosophical system; philosophy; school of thought (a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "precept"):
Golden Rule (a command based on Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount)
mitsvah; mitzvah ((Judaism) a precept or commandment of the Jewish law)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Rule of personal conduct
Synonyms:
precept; principle
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("precept" is a kind of...):
prescript; rule (prescribed guide for conduct or action)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "precept"):
higher law (a principle that takes precedent over the laws of society)
moral principle (the principle that conduct should be moral)
hypothetical imperative (a principle stating the action required to attain a desired goal)
caveat emptor (a commercial principle that without a warranty the buyer takes upon himself the risk of quality)
Holonyms ("precept" is a part of...):
ethic; ethical code (a system of principles governing morality and acceptable conduct)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Present simple (first person singular and plural, second person singular and plural, third person plural) of the verb precept
Context examples:
A woman, in monkish precepts, had been the embodiment and concentration of what was dangerous and evil—a focus whence spread all that was to be dreaded and avoided.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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