fiat
Other forms: fiats
You might think a fiat is just an Italian car, but it actually means a legal, authoritative decision that has absolute sanction.
From the Latin for "let it be done," the word fiat is a binding edict issued by a person in command. It can gain an almost Biblical aura of authority, like a movie Pharaoh saying, "So let it be written, so let it be done." So let it be a fiat.
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a legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge)types:consent decreean agreement between two parties that is sanctioned by the court; for example, a company might agree to stop certain questionable practices without admitting guiltcurfewan order that after a specific time certain activities (as being outside on the streets) are prohibiteddecree nisia decree issued on a first petition for divorce; becomes absolute at some later dateimperial decreea decree issued by a sovereign rulerjudicial separation, legal separationa judicial decree regulating the rights and responsibilities of a married couple living apartprogrammaan edict that has been publicly postedstaya judicial order forbidding some action until an event occurs or the order is liftedbull, papal bulla formal proclamation issued by the pope (usually written in antiquated characters and sealed with a leaden bulla)ukasean edict of the Russian tsarpragmatic, pragmatic sanctionan imperial decree that becomes part of the fundamental law of the landstay of executionan order whereby a judgment is precluded from being executed for a specific period of timebanning-orderan order that bans somethingcease and desist order, enjoining, enjoinment, injunction, restraining order(law) a judicial remedy issued in order to prohibit a party from doing or continuing to do a certain activity
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Vocabulary lists containing fiat
In this powerful speech delivered on July 5, 1852, abolitionist Frederick Douglass argued that the practice of slavery was antithetical to the American values of liberty and freedom.
News stories about fires, earthquakes, Iran, and lab-grown meat all provided vocabulary for this week's list of must-learn words.
During the 1984 Republican National Convention, Gregory Lee Johnson protested political and corporate policies by burning an American flag outside Dallas City Hall. He was convicted under a Texas law that prohibits the desecration of respected objects. The Supreme Court ruled that a deliberately expressive nonverbal act can be defined as speech; therefore, if it does not disturb the peace, it is protected by the First Amendment. These words are from the majority opinion written by William Brennan. The the full text here.