precept

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
precept /ˈpriːsɛpt/

▶noun

• 1 a general rule regulating behaviour or thought.

• 2 a writ or warrant.

• 3 Brit. an order issued by one local authority to another specifying the rate of tax to be charged on its behalf.

  ■ Brit. a rate or tax set by a precept.

– derivatives
preceptive adjective.

– origin ME: from L. praeceptum, neut. past part. of praecipere ‘warn, instruct’.