n.

1. A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy or an agent.
2. A representative to a conference or convention.
3. A member of a House of Delegates, the lower house of the Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia legislature.
4. An elected or appointed representative of a U.S. territory in the House of Representatives who is entitled to speak but not vote.

tr.v., -gat·ed, -gat·ing, -gates. (-gāt')

1. To authorize and send (another person) as one's representative.
2. To commit or entrust to another: delegate a task to a subordinate.
3. Law. To appoint (one's debtor) as a debtor to one's creditor in place of oneself.

[Middle English delegat, from Medieval Latin dēlēgātus, from past participle of dēlēgāre, to dispatch : Latin dē-, de- + Latin lēgāre, to send.]

delegator del'e·ga'tor n.

1. (verb) appoint, authorize, or commission; transfer authority from one person to another. Efficient management requires delegating authority but not necessarily responsibility.

2. (noun) person commissioned to act instead of another.

noun

One who stands for another: deputy, representative. See substitute.

v

Definition: assign responsibility; empower
Antonyms: keep

---

A person on whom an individual or group confers the capacity to act on his or their behalf. The central idea of delegation is that the person who delegates passes authority or responsibility to the person who is delegated to carry out a task or assume a role: hence a delegate may also be a representative (see also representation). The relationship between the principal (who delegates) and the agent may be variously understood. For example, a delegate may be sent to a meeting only in order to report back to his or her principals, or may be sent with authority to bind his or her principals to a decision. Delegation thus involves the notions of authorization, accountability, and responsibility, but any specific act of delegation will contain particular applications of these ideas.

— Andrew Reeve

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A person who is appointed, authorized, delegated, or commissioned to act in the place of another. Transfer of authority from one to another. A person to whom affairs are committed by another.

A person elected or appointed to be a member of a representative assembly. Usually spoken of one sent to a special or occasional assembly or convention. Person selected by a constituency and authorized to act for it at a party or state political convention.

As a verb, it means to transfer authority from one person to another; to empower one to perform a task in behalf of another, e.g., a landlord may delegate an agent to collect rents.

IN BRIEF: A person sent to speak and act for his or her group or branch; representative. Also: to give over a right or duty to another; entrust.

You can delegate authority, but not responsibility. — Stephen W. Comiskey.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - delegeret, repræsentant
v. tr. - uddelegere, betro, beskikke

Nederlands (Dutch)
afgevaardigde, afvaardigen, delegeren

Français (French)
n. - député, délégué, représentant
v. tr. - déléguer à, se faire représenter par qn pour (faire qch)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Delegierter, Abgeordneter
v. - abordnen, delegieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - απεσταλμένος, εκπρόσωπος, αντιπρόσωπος
v. - αναθέτω εκπροσώπηση, μεταβιβάζω/παρέχω (αρμοδιότητες κ.λπ.), εξουσιοδοτώ, αναθέτω εντολή (πληρεξουσιότητας)

Italiano (Italian)
delegare, delegato, deputato

Português (Portuguese)
n. - delegado (m)
v. - delegar

Русский (Russian)
послать в качестве представителя, предоставить полномочия, представитель, делегат

Español (Spanish)
n. - suplente, sustituto, delegado, diputado
v. tr. - delegar, suplir

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - delegat, fullmäktig, representant
v. - delegera, sända, utse, anförtro (myndighet)

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
代表, 委派...为代表

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 代表
v. tr. - 委派...為代表

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 대리자, 연방 하원의원, 파견 사절
v. tr. - 참석 시키다, 권한을 부여하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 代表, 使節
v. - 代表に選ぶ, 代表に立てて…させる, 委任する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شخص مختار أو منتخب للتعبير عن وجهه نظر الآخرين, المندوب, النائب ( في البرلمان) (فعل) يعطي مهام أو سلطه مثلا لشخص أقل منه منصبا, ينتدب, يفوض‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮נציג, בא-כוח, ציר‬
v. tr. - ‮הסמיך, מינה ציר‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.