Borrowed from French ukase, from Russian ука́з (ukáz, “edict, decree”), from Old East Slavic указъ (ukazŭ, “edict”), from указать (ukazatĭ, “to show, decree”), from Old Church Slavonic указати (ukazati, “to show, decree”), itself formed from the intensifying prefix у- (u-) (denoting a concrete purpose) + казати (kazati, “to show, order”).