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Origin and history of precept

precept(n.)

"commandment or direction given as a rule of action," especially "an injunction as to moral conduct," late 14c., from Old French percept, percet (12c.) and directly from Latin praeceptum "maxim, rule of conduct, order," noun use of neuter past participle of praecipere "give rules to, order, advise," literally "take beforehand," from prae "before" (see pre-) + capere (past participle captus) "to take," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." For change of vowel, see biennial. Related: Preceptive; preceptory.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to precept

biennial(adj.)

1620s, "lasting for two years;" 1750, "occurring every two years," from Latin biennium "two-year period," from bi- "two" (see bi-) + annus "year" (see annual (adj.)). The vowel change is "due to the Latin phonetic law according to which the unaccented and closed radical syllable of the second element of compounds, original -ă- becomes -ĕ-" [Klein]. The noun meaning "a biennial plant" (which requires two seasons of growth to produce flowers and fruit and dies the next) is attested by 1770. Related: Biennially.

preception(n.)

1610s, "a previous conception, a presumption," from Latin praeceptionem (nominative praeceptio) "a previous notion, preconception," literally "a taking beforehand," noun of action from past-participle stem of praecipere "to take beforehand" (see precept).

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commandment
late 13c., "an order from an authority," originally "any one of the ten injunctions engraved upon stone tablets and given to Moses on Mt. Sinai according to Exodus," from Old French comandement "order, command," from Latin *commandamentum, from *commandare (see command (v.)). Pro
principle
late 14c., "origin, source, beginning" (a sense now obsolete), also "rule of conduct; axiom, basic assumption; elemental aspect of a craft or discipline," from Anglo-French principle, Old French principe "origin, cause, principle," from Latin principium (plural principia) "a begi
proverb
common fact ascertained by experience or observation; a popular saying which briefly and forcibly expresses some practical precept...
legal
légal "legal" (14c.) or directly from Latin legalis "pertaining to the law," from lex (genitive legis) "an enactment; a precept...
doctrine
late 14c., "the body of principles, dogmas, etc., in a religion or field of knowledge," from Old French doctrine (12c.) "teaching, doctrine" and directly from Latin doctrina "a teaching, body of teachings, learning," from doctor "teacher" (see doctor (n.)) + -ina, fem. of -inus,
philosophy
c. 1300, philosophie, "knowledge, learning, scholarship, scholarly works, body of knowledge," from Old French filosofie "philosophy, knowledge" (12c., Modern French philosophie) and directly from Latin philosophia, from Greek philosophia "love of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom; sys
ethic
late 14c., ethik "study of morals," from Old French etique "ethics, moral philosophy" (13c.), from Late Latin ethica, from Greek ēthike philosophia "moral philosophy," fem. of ēthikos "ethical, pertaining to character," from ēthos "moral character," related to ēthos "custom" (see
lure
early 14c., "something which allures or entices, an attraction" (a figurative use), originally the name of a device for recalling a hawk, from Anglo-French lure, Old French loirre "device used to recall hawks, lure," from Frankish *lothr or some other Germanic source, from Proto-
rule
c. 1200, "principle or maxim governing conduct, formula to which conduct must be conformed" from Old French riule, Norman reule "rule, custom, (religious) order" (in Modern French partially re-Latinized as règle), from Vulgar Latin *regula, from Latin regula "straight stick, bar,
pariah
1610s, "member of a low caste in southern India, shunned as unclean," from Portuguese paria or directly from Tamil (Dravidian) paraiyar, plural of paraiyan "drummer" (at festivals, the hereditary duty of members of the largest of the lower castes of southern India), from parai "l

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