'edictal' originates from Late Latin, specifically the word 'edictalis', formed from Latin 'edictum', where 'e-' (from 'ex-') and 'dicere' meant 'out' and 'to say' (i.e., 'to proclaim').

'edictal' changed from the Late Latin adjective 'edictalis' (from the noun 'edictum'), passed into Medieval Latin and through Old/Middle English forms related to 'edict' before becoming the modern English adjective 'edictal'.

Initially it was tied to the noun 'edict' meaning 'a proclamation' or 'that which is proclaimed'; over time it evolved into the adjectival sense 'relating to an edict' or 'having the character of an edict'.