Praecipiunt

Praecipiunt is the third-person plural present indicative active form of the Latin verb praecipio, meaning to order, instruct, or prescribe. The base praecipio comes from prae- “before” and capio “to seize, take,” giving the sense of taking action beforehand or providing instruction in advance. The primary senses cover issuing commands, giving instructions, and setting precepts or rules.

In use, praecipio typically denotes authority issuing guidance or orders, whether in education, governance, law, or military contexts. It can govern a direct object representing what is being instructed or ordered, and it may appear with ut clauses expressing the desired outcome (praecipiunt ut …) or with subordinate clauses in various moods according to sentence structure. The form praecipiunt thus describes ongoing or habitual activity by a governing or instructing entity.

A closely related noun is praeceptum, meaning a precept, instruction, or rule, from which the sense of “instruction to be followed” derives. The verb also has other forms across tenses and voices, used in a variety of contexts to convey commands, directives, or educational guidance.

In classical Latin, praecipio and its derivatives appear in legal, military, philosophical, and educational texts to recount directives issued by rulers, teachers, or magistrates. The phrase’s tone can range from formal regulation to practical instruction, depending on the surrounding content and the authority behind the command.

See also: praecipio, praeceptum, praecepta.