mandate

American  

[man-deyt] / 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

"Has Burnham been given the electoral mandate to do it?" he asks.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

This mandate could extend beyond merely managing the fund.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

He has asserted that it shouldn’t be subject to a government mandate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

“Now, they are going to have to at least consider the labor side of their mandate as well.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

He returned to America in time to be elected the first vice president of the United States, which most observers, including Adams himself, interpreted as a popular mandate on his historical contribution to independence.

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

Kim says the expected ADR premium is likely to be driven by factors including mandates to major institutional investors to own only U.S. listed stocks and the potential narrow valution discount versus Micron and Nvidia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

The agreement also mandates a legally enforceable whistleblower protection policy, a comprehensive Survivor Bill of Rights, anonymous online reporting, and a prohibition on confidentiality agreements that silence survivors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

When Congress first created the FTC in the 1910s, it recognized that the agency’s mandates of protecting consumers and fighting monopolies should not be overly swayed by partisan politics.

From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026

According to Cisco’s 2025 Global Hybrid Work study, 81% of employers and 77% of employees acknowledged these mandates stemmed from a lack of trust in remote productivity.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 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

Historically, it has been up to Congress to oversee monetary policy through a semiannual hearing mandated by law.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

The SEC mandated semiannual reports in 1955 and quarterly reports, as Atkins said, in 1970.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

This represents just 2.7% of GDP by 2030, well short of the 3% mandated by Nato.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

There the zoning ordinance of 1916 mandated that tall buildings step back at certain prescribed heights, making sure the streets did not come to resemble the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

The federal government mandated high-stakes testing as part of the No Child Left Behind law, signed by President Bush in 2002.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

One point of mandating U.S. stock-market exposure with the funds is to give future generations buy-ins on America’s economy.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

In April, a federal appeals court upheld the law mandating the display after a legal challenge.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

President Donald Trump signed two directives on Monday mandating the creation of a research-grade quantum computer by 2028 and accelerating the government’s shift to post-quantum cryptography by 2031.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers for months have been wrangling over mandating the cockpit-system technology, with competing bills from both chambers of Congress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026

There may be some laws about this kind of communication, mandating a critical density and mass before it can function with efficiency.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Related Words

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