n.

1. An authoritative command or instruction.
2. A command or an authorization given by a political electorate to its representative.
3. 1. A commission from the League of Nations authorizing a member nation to administer a territory.
   2. A region under such administration.
4. Law.
   1. An order issued by a superior court or an official to a lower court.
   2. A contract by which one party agrees to perform services for another without payment.

tr.v., -dat·ed, -dat·ing, -dates.

1. To assign (a colony or territory) to a specified nation under a mandate.
2. To make mandatory, as by law; decree or require: mandated desegregation of public schools.

[Latin mandātum, from neuter past participle of mandāre, to order.]

mandator man'da'tor n.

1. Court order to an authorized agency or officer to enforce a decree, judgment, or sentence to the court's satisfaction.

2. Directive to do something, as in ‘I've been given a mandate by management to get to the bottom of this problem.'

noun

1. An authoritative indication to be obeyed: behest, bidding, charge, command, commandment, dictate, direction, directive, injunction, instruction (often used in plural), order, word. See over/under, words.
2. Conferred power: authority, faculty, right. Law competence, competency. See ability/inability.

n

Definition: authority, order
Antonyms: denial, veto

---

A territory, once part of the German or Ottoman Empires, governed by a member of the League of Nations between the First and Second World Wars—Britain had a mandate in Palestine. The territory was held in a mandate until it was deemed to be capable of, or, indeed, demanded, independence.

An electoral victory is interpreted by the successful party or coalition as giving it a mandate from the people to govern in the best interests of the nation or a specific mandate to pursue particular policies. Given that in an election parties campaign on many issues, it is difficult to claim that the government has a specific mandate for every policy, though it can reasonably claim to have a general mandate to govern. If a particular issue dominates a party's successful election campaign, then it might reasonably claim to have a mandate to pursue that issue. In recent times, however, it is difficult to identify particular issues as dominating elections, because parties compete with each other in terms of very general competences to govern.

The doctrine of the mandate can be interpreted in a negative sense to mean that governments ought not to introduce policies for which they lack a specific mandate. This meaning is difficult to reconcile with the idea of a general mandate to govern, but see House of Lords.

— Peter Byrd

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A judicial command, order, or precept, written or oral, from a court; a direction that a court has the authority to give and an individual is bound to obey.

A mandate might be issued upon the decision of an appeal, which directs that a particular action be taken, or upon a disposition made of a case by an inferior tribunal.

The term mandate is also used in reference to an act by which one individual empowers another individual to conduct transactions for an individual in that person's name. In this sense, it is used synonymously with power of attorney.

A command or an expression of a desire, especially by a group of voters for a political program. Politicians elected in landslide victories often claim that their policies have received a mandate from the voters.

IN BRIEF: An order, especially one in writing. Also: The will of the people as made known by their votes in elections.

It was a mandate that cars not speed on that curve in the road.

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. - befaling, ordre, pålæg, mandat (politisk), bemyndigelse, [jur.] fuldmagt
v. tr. - pålægge handling el. stemmeafgivelse, stille under mandat

Nederlands (Dutch)
mandaat, bevel (m.n. van een gerechtshof naar een lagere), pauselijk bevel, opdragen op bepaalde wijze te stemmen, onder mandaat stellen/beheersen, opleggen

Français (French)
n. - (gén) autorité, (Pol) mandat, (Hist) territoire sous mandat, (Fin, Jur) procuration, mandat
v. tr. - (gén) autoriser, (Pol) mandater, donner mandat à, placer (qch) sous mandat

Deutsch (German)
n. - Mandat, Verfügung, Auftrag
v. - beauftragen, einem Mandat unterstellen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εντολή (σχηματισμού κυβέρνησης), εξουσιοδότηση
v. - αναθέτω (την) εντολή

Italiano (Italian)
mandato

Português (Portuguese)
n. - mandato (m)
v. - exercer mandato

Русский (Russian)
мандат, доверенность

Español (Spanish)
n. - territorio bajo mandato, mandato, orden, mandamiento judicial
v. tr. - asignar o conferir por mandato, mandatar, dar instrucciones, autorizar, acordar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - mandat, fullmakt, mandat(område), befallning, (påvligt) reskript
v. - överlämna till mandatärstat

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
命令, 要求, 指令, 委任统治

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 命令, 要求, 指令
v. tr. - 委任統治

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 위임 통치, 요구, 지시, 지령
v. tr. - 통치를 위임하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 命令, 権限, 委任統治, 委任統治領
v. - 統治を委任する, 委任統治領にする

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أمر, تخويل, تفويض (فعل) ينتدب, يخول, يفوض‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮צו רשמי, ייפוי-כוח, צו אפיפיורי, תמיכה של מפלגה מנצחת במדיניות הנחשבת למבטאת רצון העם, ייפוי כוח מטעם חבר-הלאומים למדינה לנהל ארץ מסוימת, ממונות, מנדט‬
v. tr. - ‮ייפה כוח, מסר (ארץ) למנדט (מונח היסטורי)‬

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

To select your translation preferences click here.