mandate

Noun

mandate (plural mandates)

1. An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept; an authorization.
   • Enactive. Expositive. / Art. 57. XIII 2. The Registrative, or say Recordative: exercised, by the arrangements and operations, by which, in conformity to corresponding ordinances and mandates, the accounts, given at different periods by the exercise of the statistic function, are kept in contiguity...1830, Jeremy Bentham, Constitutional code: for the use all nations and all governments ..., volume 1, page 251

   Synonyms:

   compulsion, obligation, authority, sanction, allowance, authorization, clearance, consent, leave, license

2. The order or authority to do something, as granted to a politician by the electorate.
   • John Tyler and James K. Polk both regarded the election results as a mandate for the annexation of Texas.2002, Leroy G. Dorsey, The Presidency and Rhetorical Leadership, Texas A&M University Press, →ISBN, page 30
   • Instead, May, more sheep than shepherd, has feebly allowed herself to be driven ever further towards an extreme, inflexible, take-it-or-leave-it stance for which she has neither mandate nor credible grounds.2017 March 27, “The Observer view on triggering article 50”, in The Observer
3. (Canada) A period during which a government is in power.
   • Throughout his last mandate, from 1980 to 1984, Mr. Trudeau insisted that we see ourselves solely as Canadians, that we set aside the historic compromises that underlie Canada as a federation.2000 October 6, John Richards, “Pierre Elliott Trudeau: 1919-2000”, in The Globe and Mail, archived from the original on 09 Oct 2019
4. (historical) An order by the League of Nations to a member nation to establish a government responsible for a conquered territory, as the colonies of Germany after World War I.
   1. (historical) Such a territory.

Verb

IPA/ˈmændeɪt/

mandate (third-person singular simple present mandates, present participle mandating, simple past and past participle mandated)

1. To (officially) require someone to do something or act in a certain way, to give them the authority to do so; to command.
   • A delegate conference was called, and garages invited to mandate their representatives to vote for or against continuance.1958, The Spectator
   • Last June Illinois passed a bill requiring the state to trace sexual partners, […] but mandating the department to preserve the confidentiality of reports.1987, British Medical Journal
2. To make mandatory.
   • Federal law mandates that at least one nongroup insurer in your state must provide coverage to everyone, regardless of health issues.2009 March 7, Walecia Konrad, “Hanging On to Health Coverage, if the Job Goes Away”, in The New York Times
   • As the Superintendent of Austin, TX, schools I have mandated that our kids must be masked when they start school on Tuesday.2021 August 15, Stephanie Elizalde, “Why I'm Mandating That Austin Schools Must Be Masked When Classes Start”, in Time, archived from the original on 10 Nov 2024
3. To administer or assign a territory to a nation under a mandate.
4. (Scotland, especially) To repeat, rehearse sermons or speeches aloud.
   • After I have mandated my exercices.1724, Robert Wodrow, Life of James Wodrow
   • He [sc. Archbishop Secker] then proceeds to express his disapprobation of what is called Mandating of Sermons, or repeating them from memory. This custom prevails much among foreign Divines, and throughout the whole Church of Scotland.1796, Charles Simeon, The Gospel Message