“Ukase” (yoo-KASE) – from the Russian for “command” – is any proclamation by an absolute or arbitrary authority. In imperial Russia, it was an order by the czar that had the force of law.
Example (as used by Don Hauptman today): “An old rule commands that ’since’ be used exclusively for events involving the passage of time, but this ukase is debunked by most grammarians.”
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Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008
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