Mandate

How to spell mandate

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce mandate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does mandate mean?

1. nounAn official order or the authority granted to act, especially one given to an elected government.
2. verbTo require something officially, especially by law or rule.

Mandate in a sentence

• noun

  The new government claimed a clear mandate from the voters.

• verb

  The regulations mandate regular fire drills in every office building.

• noun

  The committee acted beyond the mandate given to it by the board.

• verb

  The policy will mandate a minimum wage for all part-time staff.

Where does mandate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning 'a command' or 'a commission', which was the noun form of the verb mandare, 'to entrust' or 'to order'. That verb was itself built from manus, meaning 'hand', and dare, meaning 'to give', so the literal idea was to place something into someone's hand, that is, to hand over a charge or duty to them. English took the word in the 1500s, partly through French, first in the sense of an official command or written authority. The same manus root that gives us the 'man' at the front of mandate also lies behind 'manual', 'manage', and 'manuscript', while the dare root surfaces in 'donate' and 'date'. Remembering that hidden 'hand giving' helps fix the single 'd' and the plain '-ate' ending, which is the part writers most often second-guess.

How the word is built

• man- (from manus: hand)
• -dat- (from dare: to give)
• -e