mandate
[ man-deyt ]
/ ˈmæn deɪt /
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noun
verb (used with object), man·dat·ed, man·dat·ing.
SYNONYMS FOR mandate
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Origin of mandate
historical usage of mandate
English mandate comes from Latin mandātum “an order, instruction, commission, imperial directive, (in law) a consensual contract.”
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.”
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 FROM mandate
un·man·dat·ed, adjectiveDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for mandate
British Dictionary definitions for mandate
mandate
noun (ˈmændeɪt, -dɪt)
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
verb (ˈmændeɪt) (tr)
Derived forms of mandate
mandator, nounWord Origin for mandate
C16: from Latin mandātum something commanded, from mandāre to command, perhaps from manus hand + dāre to give
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
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.