MANDATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mandate mean? 

• MANDATE (noun)
  The noun MANDATE has 3 senses:

1. a document giving an official instruction or command

2. a territory surrendered by Turkey or Germany after World War I and put under the tutelage of some other European power until they are able to stand by themselves

3. the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory

  Familiarity information: MANDATE used as a noun is uncommon.

• MANDATE (verb)
  The verb MANDATE has 3 senses:

1. assign under a mandate

2. make mandatory

3. assign authority to

  Familiarity information: MANDATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MANDATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A document giving an official instruction or command

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

authorisation; authorization; mandate

Hypernyms ("mandate" is a kind of...):

instrument; legal document; legal instrument; official document ((law) a document that states some contractual relationship or grants some right)

Attribute:

authorised; authorized (endowed with authority)

unauthorised; unauthorized (not endowed with authority)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

mandate (make mandatory)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A territory surrendered by Turkey or Germany after World War I and put under the tutelage of some other European power until they are able to stand by themselves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

mandate; mandatory

Hypernyms ("mandate" is a kind of...):

district; dominion; territorial dominion; territory (a region marked off for administrative or other purposes)

Instance hyponyms:

Palestine (a former British mandate on the east coast of the Mediterranean; divided between Jordan and Israel in 1948)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("mandate" is a kind of...):

commission; commissioning (the act of granting authority to undertake certain functions)

Domain category:

government; political science; politics (the study of government of states and other political units)

Derivation:

mandate (assign under a mandate)

• MANDATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they mandate    ... he / she / it mandates   
Past simple: mandated   
Past participle: mandated   
-ing form: mandating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Assign under a mandate

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

mandate a colony

Hypernyms (to "mandate" is one way to...):

assign; delegate; depute; designate (give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

mandatary (the recipient of a mandate)

mandate (the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory)

mandator (an authority who issues a mandate)

mandatory (the recipient of a mandate)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make mandatory

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

the new director of the school board mandated regular tests

Hypernyms (to "mandate" is one way to...):

dictate; order; prescribe (issue commands or orders for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

mandate (a document giving an official instruction or command)

mandatory (required by rule)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Assign authority to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "mandate" is one way to...):

assign; delegate; depute; designate (give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

mandator (an authority who issues a mandate)

 Context examples 

Its mandate is to translate the findings of basic research into treatments that can benefit patients.

(Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, NCI Thesaurus)

"Go out of the room; return to the nursery," was her mandate.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

No doubt it had been prearranged in some fashion, for it was the fatal disc with the Red Circle upon it, the mandate for murder, which lay upon his palm.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

While she accepted him because it was the mandate of the gods, that was no reason that she should leave him in peace.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

An institutional-level board mandated by federal law for oversight of recombinant DNA research and work involving biohazardous agents taking place at that institution.

(Institutional Biosafety Committee, NCI Thesaurus)

The generous nature of Safie was outraged by this command; she attempted to expostulate with her father, but he left her angrily, reiterating his tyrannical mandate.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Mandated by the FDA Modernization Act of 1997.

(Clinical Trials Database, NCI Thesaurus)

Research emphasis areas are medical and scientific research topics that warrant expanded support based on scientific need and opportunity, public health importance, and/or legislative mandate.

(NIH Emphasis Area, NCI Thesaurus)

The Bypass Budget, which is specified in the National Cancer Act, describes the NCI's priorities and planning and guides NCI efforts in discharging its responsibilities as mandated.

(Bypass Budget, NCI Thesaurus)

He obeyed the mandate, walking up to the platform, as was the custom, and addressing the chairman.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)