Precept

A precept (from the Latin: præcipere, to teach) is a commandment, instruction, or order intended as an authoritative rule of action.

For the community in the United States, see Precept, Nebraska.

Secular law[edit]

In secular law, a precept is a command in writing; a species of writ issued from a court or other legal authority. It is now chiefly used of an order demanding payment (in the UK, for example, the term is applied by local precepting authorities as part of the Council Tax system). The Latin form praecipe (i.e., to enjoin, command) is used of the note of instructions delivered by a plaintiff or his lawyer to be filed by the officer of the court, giving the names of the plaintiff and defendant.^[2]

Higher education[edit]

Princeton University uses the term precept to describe what many other universities refer to as recitations: large classes are often divided into several smaller discussion sections called precepts, which are led by the professor or graduate teaching assistants. Precepts or recitations usually meet once a week to supplement the lectures and provide a venue for discussion of the course material.^[3]

Five precepts (Taoism)

Ten precepts (Taoism)

Preceptor

Article entolē in Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, H. Balz and G. Schneider (ed.), Edinburgh 1990, Vol. I, pp. 459–60, which also cites sources for a discussion of the term's distinction from nomos/"law".

Greek

The , 1983, in the English translation prepared by the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland [2]

Code of Canon Law

The lists the origin of precept as from the Latin roots of pre-septum. Thus precept is a pre coming-together/closure.

Oxford English Dictionary

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the . Porter, Noah, ed. (1913). Webster's Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: C. & G. Merriam Co. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)