English Explanatory Dictionary

mandate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept; an authorization.
  2. The order or authority to do something, as granted to a politician by the electorate.
  3. A period during which a government is in power.
  4. An order by the League of Nations to a member nation to establish a government responsible for a conquered territory, as the colonies of Germany after World War I.
  5. Such a territory.
verb
  1. To (officially) require someone to do something or act in a certain way, to give them the authority to do so; to command.
  2. To make mandatory.
  3. To administer or assign a territory to a nation under a mandate.
  4. To repeat, rehearse sermons or speeches aloud.
noun
  1. Alternative form of man date: a date between two men.

Pronunciation

/ˈmændeɪ̯t/ [ˈmændeɪ̯t] en-us-mandate.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mandate1.wav /ˈmeə̯ndeɪ̯t/ [ˈmeə̯ndeɪ̯t] /ˈmɛə̯ndeɪ̯t/ [ˈmɛə̯ndeɪ̯t] /ˈmɛ̝ːndæ̝ɪ̯t/ [ˈmɛ̝ːndæ̝ɪ̯t] /mænˈdeɪt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mandate2.wav /ˈmæn.deɪt/

Word forms

mandate mandates mandating mandated

Etymology

First attested in 1521; borrowed from Latin mandātum (“a charge, order, command, commission, injunction”), substantivized from the neuter forms of mandātus, perfect passive participle of mandō (“to commit to one's charge, order, command, commission, literally to put into one's hands”) (see -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from manus (“hand”) + -dere (“to put”). Sense 3 in Canadian English is likely a semantic loan from French mandat.

Synonyms

compulsion obligation authority sanction allowance authorization clearance consent leave license mandate permission permit warrant

Related words

command commend countermand demand remand

Derived words

antimandate dual mandate imperative mandate mandate fraud mandative mandatary mandatee mandator mandatory
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