mandate

[ man-deyt ]
/ ˈmæn deɪt /

noun

verb (used with object), man·dat·ed, man·dat·ing.

Origin of mandate

1540–50; < Latin mandātum, noun use of neuter of mandātus, past participle of mandāre to commission, literally, to give into (someone's) hand. See manus, date1

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.”

OTHER WORDS FROM mandate

un·man·dat·ed, adjective

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
  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 (ˈmændeɪt) (tr)

Derived forms of mandate

mandator, noun

Word Origin for mandate

C16: from Latin mandātum something commanded, from mandāre to command, perhaps from manus hand + dāre to give

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.