delegate

noun

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del·e·gate | \ ˈde-li-gət

, -ˌgāt

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

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 Phrases Containing delegate Learn More About delegate

Other Words from delegate

Verb

delegatee \ ˌde-li-gə-ˈtē

\ noun

delegator \ ˈde-li-ˌgā-tər

\ noun

Did you know?

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 ("an emissary usually having official status"), legacy, colleague, and relegate. (The related Latin noun legatus refers to an ambassador, deputy, or provincial governor.) The noun delegate, meaning "a person acting for another," was in use in English by the 15th century, with the verb first appearing in the 16th 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.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Just a year later, in June 2020, Haley was elected to serve as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. — Jaz Garner, CBS News, 5 May 2022 The South Bend Tribune reported in 2016 that Milo declined the opportunity to serve as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland to avoid voting for Trump. — Kaitlin Lange, The Indianapolis Star, 4 May 2022 Astonishingly, David, who had entered politics as a delegate to the National Convention, made no move to stop Lavoisier’s killing. — Cynthia Saltzman, WSJ, 29 Apr. 2022 One Democrat who wants McAdams punished is Bob Aagard, who sent a letter to the Salt Lake County Democratic Party, challenging McAdams’ position as a delegate at the county’s April 9 party convention. — Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 2 Apr. 2022 Berden was a national committeewoman at the Republican National Committee and served as a Trump delegate at the 2016 GOP convention. — Marshall Cohen, CNN, 28 Jan. 2022 The art project honoring Lewis has been in the works for a while, but a special event for its unveiling will have D.C. Council members in attendance, as well as U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s delegate to Congress. — From Usa Today Network And Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 21 Dec. 2021 The nomination went to Erick Russell, who received 918 delegate votes, 47.3 percent of the 1,941 votes cast in the first ballot. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 7 May 2022 Racine announced the suit Tuesday alongside Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives. — Ashraf Khalil, USA TODAY, 15 Dec. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb One of the first steps can be learning how to delegate or automating processes that don't need your direct supervision. — Expert Panel, Forbes, 17 May 2022 Local governments often delegate this role to a police or fire department chief. — Will Langhorne, Arkansas Online, 10 Dec. 2021 In February, the bank announced that Botín would delegate most operational responsibility to CEO José Antonio Álvarez, while continuing to run strategy and technology units that intersect with transformation. — Emma Hinchliffe And Paige Mcglauflin, Fortune, 5 May 2022 There is no one best way for a leader to delegate these specific tasks. — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2021 Ken Burns just produced a television film about Ben Franklin, the deeply flawed but deeply human inventor, newspaper editor, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention. — Beth Thames | Bethmthames@gmail.com, al, 27 Apr. 2022 What people can take away from this story, Seaton said, is to always be prepared to call for help in case of emergency, and to delegate, as Peterson and her friends did. — Claire Rafford, The Indianapolis Star, 1 Apr. 2022 One way that managers can better support their team is to encourage them to delegate down and explore options for doing so. — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2021 And in the 11 states that delegate redistricting to nonpartisan committees, maps broke mostly in Democrats' favor, especially in California. — The Week Staff, The Week, 27 Mar. 2022 See More

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.