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.

---

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

---

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.

---

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 center-right Paz, who took office in November with a mandate to fix a severe fuel and currency crisis, named economist Christian Morales to replace ousted Jose Gabriel Espinoza.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

That stance soothed the market’s angst, but industry observers are still watching to see how DSI carries out its mandate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

Even though partially funded by the Pentagon, Stars and Stripes has been editorially independent - through a congressional mandate and DoD rules.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Idaho has no dedicated water cybersecurity mandate, but created a fund that rewards projects that build in “cyber-informed design principles” from the start.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

Livermore’s nebulous mandate was an ideal fit for Lawrence’s scheme.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

"International courts and tribunals must be able to freely carry out their mandates," he added.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

To date, almost all states have maintained their previous mandates or otherwise decoupled their policies from the federal recommendations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

States could keep the existing mandates if they want or design their own rules.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Changes to pension fund mandates and life-insurer trends have reduced their appetite for long-duration bonds.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 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

Their final request was that the treatment mandated after the medical assessment "be provided without delay".

From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026

In this case, the National Trust, a private nonprofit organization, plainly lacks the standing mandated by the Constitution.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

He thinks Doximity is in a strong position “as AI clinical evidence usage evolves from a bottoms-up, personal, physician-by-physician usage to a top-down, health system mandated tool usage strategy.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

Lawmakers were denied entry when they tried to perform their mandated oversight duties at immigrant detention facilities.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

The mandated list of occupants clings to its front door.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Last month, Bass issued orders mandating Lineage remove all food waste within 45 days and mobilizing resources to assist the community.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

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

Notably, all nine Justices reject B.P.J.’s challenge that the West Virginia law violates Title IX, the 1972 law mandating equality in men’s and women’s education.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

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

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 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