Mandate - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

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SKIP TO CONTENT mandate /ˌmænˈdeɪt/ /ˈmændeɪt/ IPA guide

Other forms: mandates; mandated; mandating

A mandate is an official command or a go-ahead. When a politician wins an election by a wide margin, that's a mandate to implement her ideas.

A mandate gives authority. If the government gives schools a mandate to test more, then the schools had better give more tests. People who work for the Peace Corps have a mandate to help various countries with things like getting clean drinking water. A politician who believes in higher taxes and then gets elected considers that a mandate to raise taxes. When you have a mandate, it's like a ticket to get something done.

Definitions of mandate

noun a formal statement of a command or injunction to do something synonyms: charge, commission, direction see moresee less types: misdirection an incorrect charge to a jury given by a judge type of: bid, bidding, command, dictation an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
noun a document giving an official instruction or command synonyms: authorisation, authorization see moresee less type of: instrument, legal document, legal instrument, official document (law) a document that states some contractual relationship or grants some right
noun the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory see moresee less type of: commission, commissioning the act of granting authority to undertake certain functions
verb assign under a mandate “mandate a colony” see moresee less type of: assign, delegate, depute, designate give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person)
verb assign authority to see moresee less type of: assign, delegate, depute, designate give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person)
verb make mandatory “the new director of the school board mandated regular tests” see moresee less type of: dictate, order, prescribe issue commands or orders for
noun 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 synonyms: mandatory see moresee less examples: Palestine a former British mandate on the east coast of the Mediterranean; divided between Jordan and Israel in 1948 type of: district, dominion, territorial dominion, territory a region marked off for administrative or other purposes

Pronunciation US /ˌmænˈdeɪt/ UK /ˈmændeɪt/ Cite this entry Style: MLA

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