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
• 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”; legate

Example Sentences

"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

"If there is safe passage, what are the terms and the conditions for such safe passage?" the South Pacific islands' delegate asked.

From Barron's

"When a human has an agent of their own, a company has a super employee," he said of brainstorming and delegating tasks to Trinity AI agents conversationally while commuting.

From Barron's

Claws are autonomous agents and can plan and execute tasks on their own, and, critically, spin up their own subagents to tackle specialized tasks, access files and themselves delegate tasks to other subagents.

From The Wall Street Journal

Naphat, 29, was expelled from the Games in December for "using unauthorised third-party software or hardware modification" during the Arena of Valor competition, a letter from a SEA Games delegate said at the time.

From Barron's

Related Words

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