mandate

American  

[man-dayt] / ˈmæn deɪt /

noun

• mandates
  plural

1. 

   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.

2. 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.

3. an authoritative order or command.

   a royal mandate.

   Synonyms:

   ruling, edict, injunction, decree, fiat

4. (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.

5. a mandated territory or colony.

6. Roman Catholic Church. an order issued by the pope, especially one commanding the preferment of a certain person to a benefice.

7. Roman and Civil Law. a contract by which one engages gratuitously to perform services for another.

8. (in modern civil law) any contract by which a person undertakes to perform services for another.

9. Roman Law. an order or decree by the emperor, especially to governors of provinces.

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verb (used with object)

• mandates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• mandated,
  past participle,  past
• mandating
  present participle

1. to authorize or decree (a particular action), as by the enactment of law.

   The state legislature mandated an increase in the minimum wage.

2. to order or require; make mandatory.

   to mandate sweeping changes in the election process.

3. to consign (a territory, colony, etc.) to the charge of a particular nation under a mandate.

mandate British  

noun

1. an official or authoritative instruction or command

2. politics the support or commission given to a government and its policies or an elected representative and his policies through an electoral victory

3. 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

4. 1. Roman law a contract by which one person commissions another to act for him gratuitously and the other accepts the commission

   2. contract law a contract of bailment under which the party entrusted with goods undertakes to perform gratuitously some service in respect of such goods

   3. Scots law a contract by which a person is engaged to act in the management of the affairs of another

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verb

1. international law to assign (territory) to a nation under a mandate

2. to delegate authority to

3. obsolete to give a command to

mandate Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mandator
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mandates
  plural

Participles

• mandating
  present
• mandated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• mandate
  simple
• mandates
  simple
• have mandated
  perfect
• has mandated
  perfect
• am mandating
  progressive
• are mandating
  progressive
• is mandating
  progressive
• have been mandating
  perfect progressive
• has been mandating
  perfect progressive

Past

• mandated
  simple
• had mandated
  perfect
• was mandating
  progressive
• were mandating
  progressive
• had been mandating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will mandate
  simple
• will have mandated
  perfect
• will be mandating
  progressive
• will have been mandating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of mandate

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin mandātum, noun use of neuter of mandātus, past participle of mandāre “to commission,” literally, “to give into (someone's) hand”; equivalent to manus manus + -dere “to put” (combining form; see do ¹).

Explanation

A mandate is an official command or a go-ahead. When a politician wins an election by a wide margin, that's a mandate to implement her ideas. A mandate gives authority. If the government gives schools a mandate to test more, then the schools had better give more tests. People who work for the Peace Corps have a mandate to help various countries with things like getting clean drinking water. A politician who believes in higher taxes and then gets elected considers that a mandate to raise taxes. When you have a mandate, it's like a ticket to get something done.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mandate mandates mandated mandating

The new rule reduces that mandate to 34.5 mpg.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

The nearby Irkutsk Aluminum Factory, which is located in the same town and employs more than 2,000 people, has imposed a masking mandate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Still, Dallas president Lorie Logan warned: "I currently estimate the target range needs to rise an additional 50 basis points or more to appropriately balance the outlook and risks for our dual mandate goals."

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

In his speech, ap Iorwerth will say the election "delivered a clear mandate from the people of Wales for positive change that makes a tangible difference to their lives".

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Mom, in her way, had given me only one mandate for my year at Fullbrook: Make friends, James; you deserve them too.

From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely

It mandates that immigrant and other detainees are afforded privacy, safety, hygienic living conditions and other rights.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

These mandates have helped draw growing quantities of domestic soybean oil toward biomass-based diesel production.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

U.S. export controls and Chinese government mandates urging local tech companies to use domestic alternatives have boosted revenue for companies like Enflame, but its earnings have been dragged into the red by high research-and-development costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Texas once had renewable mandates but eliminated them.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Referring to them as sacred might feel uncomfortable, because the First Amendment of the Constitution tells us that this nation legally mandates separation of church and state.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

These may be sold at price discounts as managers of longer-term funds are forced to sell before maturity in order to keep their portfolios’ durations above their own mandated levels.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

Governing body the FIA said this was caused by a combination of the weather, low speed, the mandated wet-weather energy management settings and the circuit layout.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Following a lawsuit, the measure was blocked by a federal judge who ordered that the services, which were mandated by a 2008 law, be maintained.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Tobacco companies have long complained that the FDA review process for their new products regularly takes much longer than the around six months mandated by Congress—sometimes even taking years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

He had disrupted commencement ceremonies by deliberately wearing a gold cap and gown, and the principal had threatened to bar him unless he changed into the mandated blue ones.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Title IX is a federal civil rights law mandating that universities follow certain rules when investigating sexual assaults.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Ohio’s legislature also passed a new law mandating chip cards for benefits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

They have also tried to stop poorly equipped climbers from summitting and mandating that visitors spend at least one night at one of the huts on the trails.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

As part of its vote, the council also approved an amendment introduced by Councilmember Adrin Nazarian recommending the city attorney assess potential legal liabilities for mandating in-person training requirements.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

They also house blood samples taken from most infants born in the United States since the late sixties, when states started mandating the screening of all newborns for genetic diseases.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Related Words

• authorization
• command
• decree
• directive
• injunction
• instruction
• sanction