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Added 9 October 2026

mandate

/ˈmændeɪ̯t/ noun

In Latin: mandātum First recorded: 1521 Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about mandate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept; an authorization.
The order or authority to do something, as granted to a politician by the electorate.
A period during which a government is in power.

verb

To (officially) require someone to do something or act in a certain way, to give them the authority to do so; to command.
To make mandatory.
To administer or assign a territory to a nation under a mandate. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

noun

Alternative form of man date: a date between two men.

Origin

First attested in 1521; borrowed from Latin mandātum (“a charge, order, command, commission, injunction”), substantivized from the neuter forms of mandātus, perfect passive participle of mandō (“to commit to one's charge, order, command, commission, literally to put into one's hands”) (see -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from manus (“hand”) + -dere (“to put”). Sense 3 in Canadian English is likely a semantic loan from French mandat.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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