Dictum – an authoritative assertion; a saying; in law, a statement of opinion expressed by the judge on some point not vital to the principal issue of the case

“Everyone who contributes to the Dictionary will leave a trace of themselves, no matter how uniform Father, or Mr Dankworth, would like it to be. Try to take Mr Dankworth’s comments as suggestion, not dictum.”

Elsie to Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams