Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use precept in a sentence

19 example sentences · noun, verb

Precept means a rule or principle, especially one governing personal conduct. Example: “Precept guides, but example draws.”

Examples of precept by meaning

nounA rule or principle, especially one governing personal conduct.

  • Precept guides, but example draws.
  • I need hardly point out that Pinker doesn't really believe anything of what he writes, at least if example is stronger evidence of belief than precept.2006, Theodore Dalrymple, The Gift of Language

nounA tax rate set by such an order; the tax thus collected.

  • The Parish Council is financed by raising a small levy - the precept - on all residential properties within the parish.2019, “Medstead Parish Council”, in Medstead Parish Council website, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2019
  • Town and parish councils, which are funded largely through “precepts” on tax bills, face no such restrictions.2026 February 1, “Why lots of English towns are creating puny local governments: Mad for parish councils”, in The Economist

More sentences with precept

  • Again the precepts of some extrafamilial or surrogately paternal relationship are violated.2014, Mary N. Layoun, Travels of a Genre: The Modern Novel and Ideology. From the entry surrogately
  • The third precept undertaken by the novice is abstaining from incelibacy.2013, William M. Johnston, Encyclopedia of Monasticism, →ISBN. From the entry incelibacy
  • It is, for example, not clear whether “love thy enemy” is a precept or a supererogatory counsel.2002, David Heyd, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. From the entry supererogatory
  • Uxoriousness was a weakness that the precepts of the Caribs did not countenance.1903–1906, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Dougherty’s Eye-opener”, in The Voice of the City, complete edition, Garden City…. From the entry carib
  • Many religious precepts are honoured in the breach.2014 February 21, “Not poles apart”, in The Economist. From the entry honor in the breach
  • He writes that the Greeks employed the institution of xenia, or guest-friendship, as a fundamental instrument and precept of international law.2012, Robert A. Williams, Jr., Savage Anxieties: The Invention of Western Civilization. From the entry guest-friendship
  • The first: the revolutionary precept of the hate crime.2002 Sean Pertwee as Father, Equilibrium, 24 minutes. From the entry hate crime
  • The precepts are stated barely and directly.1948, William Van O’Connor, “The Employment of Myths”, in Sense and Sensibility in Modern Poetry, Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago…. From the entry barely
  • But these words didn't follow the precepts of the metric system, the official standard for demarcating the universe into manageable, studyable chunks.2023 January 10, Adam Rogers, “Move over, megatons”, in Business Insider, archived from the original on 19 Apr 2023. From the entry demarcate
  • Thus Tertullian has turned, as it were, the Decalogue into his own octalogue, which he brings into close line with natural precepts.2010 page 114. From the entry octalogue
  • The glossy reality of photographs has been filtered through into a slender realm, whieh operates under precepts which are diametrically opposed to their superinstantaneous impact.1975, Documenta, Art International 1975-02-20: Volume 19, Issue 2, Art International, page 34. From the entry superinstantaneous
  • There was a kind of ghostly teenage DNA at work in the Sprawl, something that carried the coded precepts of various short-lived subcults and replicated them at odd intervals.1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 58. From the entry subcult
  • Under any governmental auspices, as the modern world knows governments, the keeping of the peace comes at its best under the precept, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."1917, Thorstein Veblen, The Nature of Peace, Introductory. From the entry speak softly and carry a big stick
  • The Gaon of Vilna (Ha-Gra) also opposed saying the formula Leshaym Yihud as well as Hineni mukhan umezuman ("Behold I am prepared and ready") since precepts do not require kavanah.1996, Macy Nulman, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer, page 229. From the entry kavanah
  • Although neither term is included in the article, traditional civilian doctrine characterizes as imperative those legal precepts rooted in public policy which may not be set aside by private agreement.1981, Alejandro M. Garro, “Codification Technique and the Problem of Imperative and Suppletive Laws”, in Louisiana Law Review, volume 41…. From the entry suppletive

Meaning of precept

  1. noun A rule or principle, especially one governing personal conduct.
  2. noun A written command, especially a demand for payment.
  3. noun An order issued by one local authority to another specifying the rate of tax to be charged on its behalf.

Full definition of precept

Questions about precept in a sentence

How do you use precept in a sentence?
Precept is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Precept guides, but example draws.”
What is a short sentence with precept?
“Precept guides, but example draws.”
What does precept mean?
Precept means a rule or principle, especially one governing personal conduct.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: precept (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use precept in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/precept. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.