ipse dixit


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ip·se dix·it

(ĭp′sē dĭk′sĭt)
n.
An unsupported assertion, usually by a person of standing; a dictum.
[From Latin ipse dīxit, he himself said (it) : ipse, he himself + dīxit, third person sing. perfect tense of dīcere, to say.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ipse dixit

(ˈɪpseɪ ˈdɪksɪt)
n
(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) an arbitrary and unsupported assertion
[C16, literally: he himself said it]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ip•se dix•it

(ˈɪp si ˈdɪk sɪt)

n.
an assertion without proof.
[1565–75; < Latin: he himself said it, translation of Greek autòs épha a phrase attributed to the Pythagoreans, in citing Pythagoras' authority]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

ipse dixit

A Latin phrase meaning he himself said it, used to mean an unsupported assertion.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun 1. ipse dixit - an unsupported dogmatic assertion
assertion, asseveration, averment - a declaration that is made emphatically (as if no supporting evidence were necessary)
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
To avoid, therefore, all imputation of laying down a rule for posterity, founded only on the authority of ipse dixit --for which, to say the truth, we have not the profoundest veneration--we shall here waive the privilege above contended for, and proceed to lay before the reader the reasons which have induced us to intersperse these several digressive essays in the course of this work.
View in context
"The reliefs claimed cannot in any manner be granted on the mere ipse dixit of the petitioner which in itself is inconclusive and is not based on clear-cut facts," the affidavit read.
Revealing Parrikar's health condition in public will breach privacy law: Goa Chief Secy
There is no guess work involved or mere ipse dixit (an assertion without proof) of the officer," the authority said.
Criminal proceeds generated in Aircel-Maxis case involving Karti Chidambaram: Anti money laundering body
The prosecution department moved the petition through Additional Prosecutor General Abdul Samad, saying that Mudassir was killed in a fake encounter and ipse dixit of Riaz Abbas, Station House Officer of Kasur's Sadar Police Station, was false.
LHC moved to record JIT member's statement
For all of his anecdotes, Frank's claim that it is rests on nothing more than his ipse dixit. The same technological change that allows some to get exceptionally wealthy is also making markets open to far more people than ever before: publishing, for example.
Smarter to be lucky
It is, no doubt, scandalous when the judiciary goes outside of the Constitution to strike down laws based on penumbras, the mystery of life, personal preference, or as the late-Justice Antonin Scalia would say, plain old ipse dixit.
Overriding court decisions
Perhaps the best-written Madison book of all, Drew McCoy's The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy, applied this same mode of argument--a Madisonian ipse dixit is to be accepted without question--in lieu of proof regarding the chief point at issue therein: that Madison, in retirement, correctly contrasted the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 and 1799 and Virginia Report of 1800 to the South Carolina Nullifiers' argument of 1832-33.
Can you trust James Madison?
A Constitution Bench by a majority of 3:2 held that "in the absence of the relevant material, much less due verification, the report of the Governor has to be treated as the personal ipse dixit (perception or opinion) of the Governor.
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