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delegate

noun
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del·​e·​gate | \ ˈde-li-gət How to pronounce delegate (audio) , -ˌgāt How to pronounce delegate (audio) \

Definition of delegate

 (Entry 1 of 2)

: a person acting for another: such as
a : a representative to a convention or conference U.N. delegates from African nations The nominee netted a handful of delegates in the state's caucus.
b government : a representative of a U.S. territory in the House of Representatives
c government : a member of the lower house of the legislature of Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia

delegate

verb
del·​e·​gate | \ ˈde-li-ˌgāt How to pronounce delegate (audio) \
delegated; delegating

Definition of delegate (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to entrust to another delegate authority delegated the task to her assistant
2 : to appoint as one's representative

intransitive verb

: to assign responsibility or authority a good manager knows how to delegate
Other Words from delegate Synonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about delegate

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Other Words from delegate

Verb

delegatee \ ˌde-​li-​gə-​ˈtē How to pronounce delegatee (audio) \ noun
delegator \ ˈde-​li-​ˌgā-​tər How to pronounce delegator (audio) \ noun

Did You Know?

Verb

To "delegate" is literally or figuratively to send another in one's place, an idea that is reflected in the word’s origin; it is a descendant of Latin legare, meaning "to send as an emissary." Other English words that can be traced back to "legare" include "legate" ("a usually official emissary"), "legacy," "colleague," and "relegate." The noun delegate, meaning "a person acting for another," entered English in the 15th century, followed by the verb in the next century.

Examples of delegate in a Sentence

Noun the U.N. delegates from African countries He's been chosen as a delegate to the convention. Verb A manager should delegate authority to the best employees. Those chores can be delegated to someone else. He doesn't delegate very well.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Warren holds eight delegates and Biden has 6, according to current data from AP. — Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, "Bernie Sanders takes lead for the first time in national Quinnipiac poll ahead of New Hampshire primary," 11 Feb. 2020 At a separate veterans organizing session during the convention, delegates openly worried that the party wasn’t doing enough to reach key veteran communities. — Jasper Craven, The New Republic, "Pete Buttigieg and the Democrats’ Veteran Problem," 11 Feb. 2020 Precincts only reported how many delegates should be allotted, without the underlying vote totals. — New York Times, "How the Iowa Caucuses Became an Epic Fiasco for Democrats," 10 Feb. 2020 Tallies of how many people initially supported a candidate did not properly align with reports of how many delegates each candidate got. — The Economist, "Iowa’s false start The bungling of the Iowa caucuses may harm the Democrats’ nominee," 4 Feb. 2020 But the caucus app's requirement to handle images of final delegate tallies from each precinct and reliance on cellular networks of varying capacity were clearly variables that weren't fully explored before the app was shipped. — Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica, "“Robust,” “scalable” not words that apply to Iowa Dem Caucus app [Updated]," 4 Feb. 2020 And no prize is bigger than California — 494 delegates awarded through a complex mix of statewide and district-level results that could ultimately benefit multiple top-performing candidates. — Alexei Koseff, SFChronicle.com, "Mike Bloomberg has California to himself as Democratic field focuses on Iowa," 3 Feb. 2020 In previous years, the party only reported the delegate strength. — Elissa Robinson, Detroit Free Press, "Elections newsletter: Understanding the Iowa caucuses," 3 Feb. 2020 Sanders has also in delegate-rich California, although Biden remains the leader in national surveys. — Los Angeles Times, "Sanders’ rise fueling internal fight as some Democrats fear a November wipeout," 30 Jan. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb In 1995, for example, Postel delegated the .ky extension to a government employee of the Cayman Islands. — Michael Waters, Wired, "The Digital Colonialism Behind .tv and .ly," 7 Feb. 2020 Reports of research with less-stimulating results are delegated to the file drawer or to obscure journals. — Robert M. Kaplan, STAT, "Open science, publishing, and public research support: Could Trump have it right?," 6 Feb. 2020 Jon Stewart is finally delegating his Irresistible political satire to the masses. — Joey Nolfi, EW.com, "Steve Carell, Rose Byrne clash politics in Jon Stewart's Irresistible trailer," 24 Jan. 2020 Magney added that the commission usually delegates these kinds of decisions to the administrator. — Daniel Bice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "State commission bounces two Milwaukee County executive candidates from the ballot," 21 Jan. 2020 Arpaio’s attorneys argued the violations were unintentional and that Arpaio delegated the court’s order to subordinates. — Uriel J. Garcia, azcentral, "Joe Arpaio 2020 billboards pop up, but is he actually running?," 14 July 2019 The findings conflict with legislators who are investigating the crashes and may try to stop the FAA from delegating work to Boeing. — Washington Post, "Business Highlights," 16 Jan. 2020 The mentorship, which was arranged through a partnership with The Wing and Land Rover, gave He and Faulhaber valuable perspective on how to enhance company culture and get comfortable with delegating as ADAY continues to scale. — Hilary George-parkin, Marie Claire, "ADAY’s Co-founders on Learning to Spend Money to Make Money," 15 Jan. 2020 The central question of AI is not superintelligence or the end of work but the capacity of AI to render autonomous judgments, as society delegates more decisions to the machine. — K.n.c., The Economist, "Open Future A cry for freedom in the algorithmic age," 10 Jan. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'delegate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of delegate

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1530, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

History and Etymology for delegate

Noun and Verb

Middle English delegat, from Medieval Latin delegatus, from Latin, past participle of delegare to delegate, from de- + legare to send — more at legate

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Time Traveler for delegate

Time Traveler

The first known use of delegate was in the 14th century

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Statistics for delegate

Last Updated

14 Feb 2020

Cite this Entry

“Delegate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delegate. Accessed 25 Feb. 2020.

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More Definitions for delegate

delegate

noun
How to pronounce delegate (audio) How to pronounce delegate (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of delegate

 (Entry 1 of 2)

: a person who is chosen or elected to vote or act for others

delegate

verb
How to pronounce delegate (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of delegate (Entry 2 of 2)

: to give (control, responsibility, authority, etc.) to someone : to trust someone with (a job, duty, etc.)
: to choose (someone) to do something

See the full definition for delegate in the English Language Learners Dictionary

delegate

noun
del·​e·​gate | \ ˈde-li-gət How to pronounce delegate (audio) \

Kids Definition of delegate

 (Entry 1 of 2)

: a person sent with power to act for another or others

delegate

verb
del·​e·​gate | \ ˈde-lə-ˌgāt How to pronounce delegate (audio) \
delegated; delegating

Kids Definition of delegate (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : to entrust to another The voters delegate power to their elected officials.
2 : to make responsible for getting something done We were delegated to clean up.

delegate

noun
del·​e·​gate | \ ˈde-li-gət How to pronounce delegate (audio) \

Legal Definition of delegate

 (Entry 1 of 2)

: a person empowered to act on behalf of another: as
a : a person who is authorized to perform another's duties under a contract
b : a representative to a convention (as of a political party) or conference
c : a representative of a U.S. territory in the House of Representatives
d : a member of the lower house of the legislature of Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia

delegate

verb
del·​e·​gate | \ ˈde-li-ˌgāt How to pronounce delegate (audio) \
delegated; delegating

Legal Definition of delegate (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to entrust or transfer (as power, authority, or responsibility) to another: as
a : to transfer (one's contractual duties) to another
b : to empower a body (as an administrative agency) to perform (a governmental function) — see also nondelegation doctrine
2 : to appoint as one's representative

intransitive verb

: to transfer responsibility or authority

History and Etymology for delegate

Noun

Medieval Latin delegatus, from Latin, past participle of delegare to appoint, put in charge

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More from Merriam-Webster on delegate

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for delegate

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with delegate

Spanish Central: Translation of delegate

Nglish: Translation of delegate for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of delegate for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about delegate

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