mandate

noun man·date \ ˈman-ˌdāt \

|Updated on: 14 Jul 2018

Editor's Note: When Should You Use mandate?

Definition of mandate

1 : an authoritative command; especially : a formal order from a superior court or official to an inferior one

2 : an authorization to act given to a representative

accepted the mandate of the people

3 a : an order or commission granted by the League of Nations to a member nation for the establishment of a responsible government over a former German colony or other conquered territory

b : a mandated territory

See mandate defined for English-language learners

See mandate defined for kids

Examples of mandate in a Sentence

Sports fans have considerable forbearance. Year after year they endure escalating ticket prices, the abomination known as seat licensing and the implied mandate that taxpayers should foot the bill for the new stadium or arena that will absolutely revive downtown. —Jack McCallum, Sports Illustrated, 30 July 2007
All provisions requiring congressional approval, such as FDA regulation, were dropped, as were mandates for stronger package warnings, tighter enforcement on sales to youth, stronger public smoking bans, and … provisions to reduce youth smoking. —Allan M. Brandt, The Cigarette Century, 2007
Not the least of the Governors' problems are the new mandates being put on them by Washington—by a President who was once one of their own. —Karen Tumulty, Time, 19 May 2003
Royal mandates must be obeyed.
They carried out the governor's mandate to build more roads.
He won the election so convincingly that he believed he had been given a mandate for change.

Recent Examples of mandate from the Web

The Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was repealed in Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but other core provisions such as insurance exchanges and mandating coverage for pre-existing conditions remain.

— salvador rizzo, Washington Post, "Anatomy of a Trump rally: 76 percent of claims are false, misleading or lacking evidence," 10 July 2018
In the context of such extreme cases, Grant’s mandate to officers to become someone else can take on an uncomfortable tenor.

— chris stokel-walker, The Atlantic, "The Linguist Who Helps Police Catch Child Predators," 10 July 2018
After taking the oath of office for a new five-year term, the government issued a decree that stipulated that the president would appoint the central bank governor, deputies and monetary policy committee members for four-year mandates.

— yeliz candemir, WSJ, "Investors Dump Turkish Lira as They Turn Cold on Emerging Markets," 10 July 2018
In Priests for Life v. HHS, Kavanaugh declared the Obamacare contraceptive mandate violated constitutional rights to religious liberty.

— CBS News, "Judge Brett Kavanaugh named Trump's second Supreme Court justice - live updates," 9 July 2018
The government has interpreted the court mandate to include all children separated from their families even before this policy, increasing the number that need to be reunited.

— renae reints, Fortune, "Department of Justice Wants More Time to Reunite Families Separated at the Border," 6 July 2018
Has the online campaign against Article 13 put more pressure on MEPs to vote against the mandate?

— robert levine, Billboard, "European Parliament Member Helga Trüpel Explains How Copyright Vote Will Go Down (Q&A)," 4 July 2018
While Richmond has plenty of other Confederate symbols, the commission's mandate was limited to the five giant Confederate statues that dot Monument Avenue, a prestigious residential street lined with mansions and divided by a grassy median.

— sarah rankin, The Christian Science Monitor, "After a year of soul-searching, Richmond reimagines its Confederate monuments," 3 July 2018
As the new law takes effect, counties and local governments across the state are moving to hire and train enough law officers to comply with the school mandate.

— martin e. comas, OrlandoSentinel.com, "School resource officers learn to 'defuse' tense situations with mentally ill," 2 July 2018

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

When Should You Use mandate?

A mandate from a leader is a command you can't refuse. But that kind of personal command is rarely the meaning of mandate today; much more common are connected with institutions. Thus, the Clean Air Act was a mandate from Congress to clean up air pollution—and since mandate is also a verb, we could say instead that the Clear Air Act mandated new restrictions on air pollution. Elections are often interpreted as mandates from the public for certain kinds of action. But since a politician is not just a symbol of certain policies but also an individual who might happen to have an awfully nice smile, it can be risky to interpret most elections as mandating anything at all.

Origin and Etymology of mandate

Middle French & Latin; Middle French mandat, from Latin mandatum, from neuter of mandatus, past participle of mandare to entrust, enjoin, probably irregular from manus hand + -dere to put — more at manual, do

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1501

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

mandate Synonyms

Synonyms

accreditation, authorization, commission, delegation, empowerment, license (or licence);

Related Words

commendation, consignment, entrustment;

facilitation, fostering, promotion;

commanding, directing, ordering;

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

mandate

verb man·date \ ˈman-ˌdāt \

Definition of mandate

mandated; mandating

transitive verb

1 : to administer or assign (something, such as a territory) under a mandate

2 : to officially require (something) : make (something) mandatory : order

a law mandating recycling

; also : to direct or require (someone) to do something

a commission mandated to investigate corruption

See mandate defined for English-language learners

Examples of mandate in a Sentence

The carbon prices on the European exchanges are higher precisely because the allowances for carbon emissions are mandated by government. —Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, 2006
But the FDA did nothing. Later, it protested that it doesn't have the authority to mandate additional studies once a drug is marketed, but that is sophistry. The FDA has the authority to pull drugs off the market … —Marcia Angell, New York Review of Books, 8 June 2006
For a few tantalizing weeks this spring, the manufacturers of gun safety locks seemed to have hit the jackpot: the gun-control bill passed by the Senate in the wake of the Littleton shootings mandated that all new handguns be equipped with safety locks. —Calvin Trillin, Time, 5 July 1999
The law mandates that every car have seat belts.
He won the election so convincingly that he believed the people had mandated him to carry out his policies.

Recent Examples of mandate from the Web

The Georgia Open Records Act mandates that government bodies produce public records in reasonable amount of time.

— stephen deere, ajc, "New Atlanta city attorney Nina Hickson refused to withhold records," 5 July 2018
Judge Hippler mandated that a receiver be assigned to handle future expenses needed for property by the end of Wednesday.

— ruth brown, idahostatesman, "Lawsuit accuses Meridian-based property management LLC of embezzling up to $1 million," 27 June 2018
In 2010, Urbach’s home province of Ontario mandated that all hospitals adopt some sort of surgical safety checklist.

— ike swetlitz, STAT, "Inside Ariadne Labs, Atul Gawande’s testing ground for new ideas in health care," 27 June 2018
The policy change mandated that border agents detain anyone attempting to cross—which is typically treated as a civil misdemeanor offense—and try it as a criminal case.

— stacey leasca, Glamour, "All Your Questions About Trump's Executive Order on Family Separation, Answered," 22 June 2018
The Cruz bill mandates that families be kept together and expedites processing of the cases of immigrants with children, doubles the number of federal immigration judges and authorizes new family shelters.

— erica martinson, Anchorage Daily News, "Alaska delegation looks to bipartisan response from Congress for immigration woes," 22 June 2018
Florida Surgeon General Celeste Philip mandated in December 2017 that all 67 county health departments offer PrEP at no cost by the end of 2018.

— jon cohen, Science | AAAS, "‘We’re in a mess.’ Why Florida is struggling with an unusually severe HIV/AIDS problem," 13 June 2018
However, the stage version mandates that the same actor play Edward at all ages.

— mike giuliano, Howard County Times, "Silhouette Stages catches 'Big Fish'," 17 May 2018
The 1992 treaty mandates that its 196 signing parties must take steps toward ensuring biological diversity by preserving resources.

— National Geographic, "A Third of Protected Areas Face Human Pressure—What Does it Mean?," 17 May 2018

Origin and Etymology of mandate

see ¹mandate

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1919

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

mandate Synonyms

Phrases

call for;

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

MANDATE Defined for English Language Learners

mandate

noun

Definition of mandate for English Language Learners

: an official order to do something
: the power to act that voters give to their elected leaders

mandate

verb

Definition of mandate for English Language Learners

: to officially demand or require (something)
: to officially give (someone) the power to do something

MANDATE Defined for Kids

mandate

noun man·date \ ˈman-ˌdāt \

Definition of mandate for Students

1 : an order from a higher court to a lower court

2 : a command or instruction from an authority

3 : the instruction given by voters to their elected representatives

Word Root of mandate

The Latin word mandāre, meaning “to commit” or “to order,” gives us the root mand. Words from the Latin mandāre have something to do with committing or ordering. When a task is mandatory, someone has ordered that it must be done. To command is to order someone to do something. A mandate is an order from an authority to follow specific instructions.

Law Dictionary

mandate

noun man·date \ ˈman-ˌdāt \

legal Definition of mandate

1 a : a formal communication from a reviewing court notifying the court below of its judgment and directing the lower court to act accordingly

b : mandamus

2 in the civil law of Louisiana : an act by which a person gives another person the power to transact for him or her one or several affairs

3 a : an authoritative command : a clear authorization or direction

the mandate of the full faith and credit clause
—National Law Journal

b : the authorization to act given by a constituency to its elected representative

Origin and Etymology of mandate

Latin mandatum, from neuter of mandatus, past participle of mandare to entrust, enjoin, probably irregularly from manus hand + -dere to put

mandate

transitive verb

legal Definition of mandate

mandated; mandating

: to make mandatory or required

the Pennsylvania Constitution mandates a criminal defendant's right to confrontation
—National Law Journal

Learn More about mandate

See words that rhyme with mandate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for mandate Spanish Central: Translation of mandate Nglish: Translation of mandate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of mandate for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about mandate

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mandate

Definition of mandate

Examples of mandate in a Sentence

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When Should You Use mandate?

Origin and Etymology of mandate

mandate Synonyms

Synonyms

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Other Legal Terms

mandate

Definition of mandate

Examples of mandate in a Sentence

Recent Examples of mandate from the Web

Origin and Etymology of mandate

mandate Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Phrases

Other Government and Politics Terms

MANDATE Defined for English Language Learners

mandate

Definition of mandate for English Language Learners

mandate

Definition of mandate for English Language Learners

MANDATE Defined for Kids

mandate

Definition of mandate for Students

Word Root of mandate

Law Dictionary

mandate

legal Definition of mandate

Origin and Etymology of mandate

mandate

legal Definition of mandate

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