The root for the word dictator is dict and its meaning is to say.
In Latin, a dictator was a judge in the Roman republic temporarily invested with absolute power. The transferred sense of "absolute ruler, person possessing unlimited powers of government" is from c. 1600; that of "one who has absolute power or authority" of any kind, in any sphere is from 1590s.
Dictator: agent noun from dictare "say often, prescribe," frequentative of dicere "to say, speak."
