mandate
a command or authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative: The president had a clear mandate to end the war.
a command from a superior court or official to a lower one: The appellate court resolved the appeal and issued a mandate to the district judge.
an authoritative order or command: a royal mandate.
(in the League of Nations) a commission given to a nation to administer the government and affairs of a former Turkish territory or German colony.
a mandated territory or colony.
Roman Catholic Church. an order issued by the pope, especially one commanding the preferment of a certain person to a benefice.
Roman and Civil Law. a contract by which one engages gratuitously to perform services for another.
(in modern civil law) any contract by which a person undertakes to perform services for another.
Roman Law. an order or decree by the emperor, especially to governors of provinces.
to authorize or decree (a particular action), as by the enactment of law: The state legislature mandated an increase in the minimum wage.
to order or require; make mandatory: to mandate sweeping changes in the election process.
to consign (a territory, colony, etc.) to the charge of a particular nation under a mandate.
Origin of mandate
1word story For mandate
Mandātum is a neuter noun use of the past participle mandātus, from mandāre “to hand over, deliver, consign, entrust, delegate.” The first element of Latin mandāre is from the noun manus “hand”; the second part looks as if it were from dare “to give,” but in fact -dāre is a derivation of the combining form -dere “to put, place,” from a very widespread Proto-Indo-European root dhē-, dhō- “to place, set, put,” source of the English verb do. Mandāre therefore means “to put in the hands (of).”
Mandātum, via Old and Middle French mandé “washing of poor people’s feet during the Holy Thursday liturgy,” becomes maunde in Middle English and maundy in Modern English. Mandé, maunde, and maundy derive from the Vulgate Latin text of Jesus’ words during the Last Supper (Gospel of St. John, 13:34): Mandātum novum dō vōbis, ut diligātis invicem “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.”
Other words for mandate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use mandate in a sentence
Models predict that if the US adopted a universal mask mandate, cases would almost immediately drop and lower death tolls would follow.
Kim Reynolds, who previously labeled coronavirus restrictions as “feel good measures,” ordered a statewide mandate requiring residents over the age of 2 to wear masks in indoor public spaces.
Republicans are starting to embrace COVID precautions after initially resisting | Aric Jenkins | November 17, 2020 | FortuneThe new restrictions are notable for Reynolds, who has resisted implementing a statewide mask mandate since the spring.
With coronavirus cases spiking nationwide, all signs point to a harrowing autumn | Brady Dennis, Jacqueline Dupree, Marisa Iati | November 11, 2020 | Washington PostBack in 2012, one of the key issues before the Supreme Court was the legality of the “individual mandate” — a component of the ACA that required all Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty.
What Happens If the Supreme Court Overturns Obamacare? | Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux (Amelia.Thomson-DeVeaux@abc.com) | November 10, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightThe plaintiffs argue that if the penalty is zero then it isn’t a tax, so the court’s 2012 reasoning no longer applies, and the mandate is unconstitutional.
What to know about the Supreme Court’s case on the constitutionality of Obamacare | Geoffrey Colvin | November 10, 2020 | Fortune
Some towns in California have already passed zoning rules mandating that new construction come with solar panels.
Solar Panels Now Being Offered as a Prebuilt Feature in California | Daniel Gross | May 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut there is no federal law mandating that it should be so severe.
“We like beer,” Taylor says, after mandating that everyone crack open an Mmmhops before the drinking games could commence.
Hanson Got Me Drunk on Their New Beer, Mmmhops (Really) | Kevin Fallon | September 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTWhich was this: we will petition the greedy and insatiable City to paint the curbs blue and white, mandating pay for parking.
On Monday, NPR reported on a new Mississippi law mandating the collection of cord blood from babies born to girls under 16.
British Dictionary definitions for mandate
an official or authoritative instruction or command
politics the support or commission given to a government and its policies or an elected representative and his policies through an electoral victory
Also called: mandated territory (often capital) (formerly) any of the territories under the trusteeship of the League of Nations administered by one of its member states
Roman law a contract by which one person commissions another to act for him gratuitously and the other accepts the commission
contract law a contract of bailment under which the party entrusted with goods undertakes to perform gratuitously some service in respect of such goods
Scots law a contract by which a person is engaged to act in the management of the affairs of another
international law to assign (territory) to a nation under a mandate
to delegate authority to
obsolete to give a command to
Origin of mandate
1Derived forms of mandate
- mandator, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for mandate
A command or an expression of a desire, especially by a group of voters for a political program. Politicians elected in landslide victories often claim that their policies have received a mandate from the voters.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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