man|date

man|date «noun. MAN dayt, -diht; verb. MAN dayt», noun, verb, -dat|ed, -dat|ing.

–n.

1. a command or order: »

a royal mandate. The mandate of God to His creature man is: Work! (Thomas Carlyle).

SYNONYM(S): edict, behest, injunction.

2. an order from a higher court or official to a lower one: »

Towards the close of Adams's term, Georgia had bid defiance to the mandates of the Supreme Court (Theodore Roosevelt).

3. a direction or authority given to a government by the votes of the people in election: »

After his election the governor said he had a mandate to increase taxes.

4. a commission given to one nation by a group of nations to administer the government and affairs of a territory or colony. The system of mandates established after World War I was administered by the League of Nations. »

The character of the Mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the people (League of Nations Covenant).

5. a mandated territory or colony.

6. an order issued by the Pope stating that a certain person should be given a benefice.

7. a contract in Roman and civil law, by which one person requests another to act for him gratuitously, agreeing to indemnify him against losses.

8. any contract of agency.

9. a command in ancient Rome from the emperor, especially to the governor of a province.

–v.t.

1. to put (a territory or colony) under the administration of another nation: »

The result of the late war has been to eliminate Germany from the map, her territories being mandated to the British and other nations (Times Literary Supplement).

2. to order or require officially, make mandatory.

╂[< Latin mandātum, noun use of neuter past participle of mandāre to order]