delegate

American  

[del-i-git, -geyt, del-i-geyt] / ˈdɛl ɪ gɪt, -ˌgeɪt, ˈdɛl ɪˌgeɪt /

noun

1. a person designated to act for or represent another or others; deputy; representative, as in a political convention.

2. (formerly) the representative of a Territory in the U.S. House of Representatives.

3. a member of the lower house of the state legislature of Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia.

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verb (used with object)

delegated, delegating

1. to send or appoint (a person) as deputy or representative.

2. to commit (powers, functions, etc.) to another as agent or deputy.

   Synonyms:

   transfer, assign, entrust

delegate British  

/ ˈdɛlɪɡəbəl /

noun

1. a person chosen or elected to act for or represent another or others, esp at a conference or meeting

2. government a representative of a territory in the US House of Representatives

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verb

1. to give or commit (duties, powers, etc) to another as agent or representative; depute

2. (tr) to send, authorize, or elect (a person) as agent or representative

3. (tr) to assign (a person owing a debt to oneself) to one's creditor in substitution for oneself

Other Word Forms

• delegable
  adjective
• delegatee
  noun
• delegator
  noun
• nondelegate
  noun
• predelegate
  noun
• redelegate
  verb (used with object)
• subdelegate
  noun
• subdelegate
  verb (used with object)
• undelegated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of delegate

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (past participle) delegat, from Medieval Latin dēlēgātus, noun use of past participle of dēlēgāre “to assign,” equivalent to dē- de- + lēgātus “deputed”; see legate

Explanation

Delegate lends an official air to passing off your work. If you don't like cleaning the bathroom, you can try to delegate that task to your little brother. A delegate is also an elected official, or the person who is doing the task you delegated them to do. In presidential primaries in the United States, you do not vote for a candidate, you vote for a delegate whose job it is to vote for that candidate at a convention. Be careful with how you pronounce the end of the word. The elected official is pronounced DE-lə-git whereas delegate as a verb should be DE-lə-gāt.

Example Sentences

They explained the governing body will wait for the match delegate report to consider action.

From BBC • May 17, 2026

“He didn’t address the elephant in the room,” one delegate told me, referring to the Piker controversy.

From Slate • Apr. 29, 2026

President Franklin D. Roosevelt acknowledged this in 1945, when he appointed Dulles as a delegate to the San Francisco Conference on international organization, which helped establish the United Nations.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

"The Americans are highly awaited; without them, we can't move forward," confided one delegate from a Southeast Asian country, speaking on condition of anonymity.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

He arrived back in Philadelphia a conquering hero and in plenty of time to be selected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• commissioner
• deputy
• envoy
• member
• minister
• nominee
• senator