dict
dɪkt
A dictionary, a forecast and a verdict are all one spoken word
The picture A word going out of the mouth and landing on its target. Where and when it lands is what changes the meaning. dict is the word said out loud; script is the word scratched down by hand.
Where the picture shows up in dict
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Words kept in one place
Look it up in the dictionary.
lʊk ɪt ʌp ɪn ðə ˈdɪkʃəneri
Look it up in the dictionary.
Thousands of spoken words laid out in rows inside one book.
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Saying it before it happens
Nobody can predict the weather here.
ˈnoʊbədi kən prɪˈdɪkt ðə ˈweðər hɪr
Nobody here can call the weather.
A word thrown out ahead, toward a tomorrow that hasn't arrived.
pre (before) + dict (say): saying it before the thing arrives is a prediction.
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Saying it back against
Don't contradict the boss in front of clients.
doʊnt ˌkɑːntrəˈdɪkt ðə bɑːs ɪn frʌnt əv ˈklaɪənts
Don't argue with the boss in front of clients.
Your words and his words hitting each other head-on in mid-air.
contra (against) + dict (say).
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Saying it for someone to write
She dictated the letter to me.
ʃiː ˈdɪkteɪtɪd ðə ˈletər tuː miː
She read me the letter to type.
Words leaving one mouth and landing straight onto someone else's paper.
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Saying what counts as true
The jury reached a verdict.
ðə ˈdʒʊri riːtʃt ə ˈvɜːrdɪkt
The jury reached a verdict.
One sentence dropped into the middle of the courtroom and setting hard.
All of it in one picture
dict is a word going out of the mouth and landing somewhere. Land it inside a book and you have a dictionary; throw it out ahead of the event and you have a prediction; throw it back against another's word and you contradict. Land it on someone's page and it is dictation; land it in the courtroom and it sets into a verdict. Every dict word asks the same thing: where did the spoken word land?