noun (n)

• a formal or authoritative proclamation(noun.communication)

  source: wordnet30
• a legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge)(noun.communication)

  Synonym:
  decree, fiat, order, rescript
  

  source: wordnet30
• A public command or ordinance by the sovereign power; the proclamation of a law made by an absolute authority, as if by the very act of announcement; a decree; as, the edicts of the Roman emperors; the edicts of the French monarch.(noun)

  source: webster1913