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The original doctrines were those of the Catholic Church, especially as taught by the so-called doctors (religious scholars) of the Church. But today a doctrine can come from many other sources. Old and established legal principles are called legal doctrine. Traditional psychiatrists still follow the doctrines of Sigmund Freud. Communist doctrine in the 1920s and ʼ30s was often the teachings of Lenin, which were then regarded in the Soviet Union as almost sacred. U.S. presidents have given their names to doctrines as well: In 1823 the Monroe Doctrine stated that the United States would oppose European influence in the Americas, and in 1947 the Truman Doctrine held that America would support free countries against enemies outside and inside.
Examples of doctrine in a Sentence
Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 15 May 2026
Supporters of the redrawn congressional districts say that courts may not be able to rule on the map if the decision is made near an election under what’s called the Purcell principle, a United States Supreme Court doctrine that courts shouldn’t change election rules too close to an election.
—Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 14 May 2026
Assayas’s aesthetic is too genteel to even imagine the specifics of loathsome doctrines.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 13 May 2026
To that end, Stratas stressed the doctrine of waiver.
—Justin Birnbaum, Sportico.com, 12 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Doctrine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctrine. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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doctrine
noun
