1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Precept

PRECEPT (Lat. praeceptum, a rule, from praecipere, literally to take beforehand, to give rules, instructions or orders), a command or rule, especially one with regard to conduct or action, a moral rule or injunction, a maxim. Apart from this general use, the word was used, in law, of many orders in writing issuing from a court or other legal authority; it is now chiefly used of an order demanding the payment of money under a rate by poor law or other local authorities (see Rate). The Latin form praecipe, i.e. enjoin, command, is used of the note of instructions delivered by a plaintiff or his solicitor to be filed by the officer of the court, giving the names of the plaintiff and defendant, the nature of the writ, &c. For the obsolete writ of praecipe quod reddat see Writ.