mandate

The word “mandate” means an official order, command, or authorization to carry out a particular action. In plain terms, an official command, or the authority/permission to carry out an action, often granted through an election.

“Mandate” is pronounced MAN-dayt (/ˈmeə̯ndeɪ̯t/ in IPA).

Here is “mandate” used in a sentence: “The court issued a mandate requiring the company to pay damages.”

Depending on how it is used, “mandate” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “mandate” comes from Latin. From Latin mandatum ("a charge, order, commission"), from manus ("hand") + dare ("to put/give") — literally "put into someone's hands.".

“Mandate” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Mandate” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: an official order, command, or authorization to carry out a particular action.

A mandate is an official order, command, or authorisation to carry out a particular action. A law is a formal rule created through legislation; a mandate may be backed by law but can also be an instruction or a grant of authority without being a full statute.

An order is a direct command to do something, while a mandate carries an added sense of official authority or permission to act. A mandate can also mean the authority voters give an elected government, a meaning an ordinary order does not have.

As a noun, mandate is an official order or a grant of authority. As a verb, to mandate means to officially require something or to give someone the authority to do it, as in "the rules mandate safety checks."