Definition of MANDATE

an authoritative command; especially : a formal order from a superior court or official to an inferior one… See the full definition

mandate


noun


Save Word


man·​date


|



ˈman-ˌdāt


Definition of

mandate

(Entry 1 of 2)


1



:

an authoritative command


especially



:

a formal order from a

superior court

or official to an inferior one


2



:

an authorization to act given to a representative

accepted the

mandate

of the people


3


a



:

an order or

commission

granted by the League of Nations to a member nation for the establishment of a responsible government over a former German colony or other conquered territory


b



:

a mandated territory

mandate


verb


man·​date


|



ˈman-ˌdāt



mandated


;


mandating

Definition of

mandate

(Entry 2 of 2)


transitive verb


1



:

to administer or assign (something, such as a territory) under a

mandate


2



:

to officially require (something)

:

make (something)

mandatory


:



order



a law

mandating

recycling


also



:

to direct or require (someone) to do something


a commission

mandated

to investigate corruption

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Synonyms for

mandate

Synonyms: Noun


accreditation

,


authorization

,


commission

,


delegation

,


empowerment

,


license


(


or


licence

)

Synonyms: Verb


call

,


command

,


decree

,


dictate

,


direct

,


ordain

,


order


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When Should You Use

mandate

?

A mandate from a leader is a command you can’t refuse. But that kind of personal command is rarely the meaning of

mandate

today; much more common are connected with institutions. Thus, the Clean Air Act was a mandate from Congress to clean up air pollution—and since

mandate

is also a verb, we could say instead that the Clear Air Act

mandated

new restrictions on air pollution. Elections are often interpreted as mandates from the public for certain kinds of action. But since a politician is not just a symbol of certain policies but also an individual who might happen to have an awfully nice smile, it can be risky to interpret most elections as mandating anything at all.

Examples of

mandate

in a Sentence


Noun


Sports fans have considerable forbearance. Year after year they endure escalating ticket prices, the abomination known as seat licensing and the implied

mandate

that taxpayers should foot the bill for the new stadium or arena that will absolutely revive downtown.



— Jack McCallum

,


Sports Illustrated

,

30 July 2007


All provisions requiring congressional approval, such as FDA regulation, were dropped, as were

mandates

for stronger package warnings, tighter enforcement on sales to youth, stronger public smoking bans, and … provisions to reduce youth smoking.



— Allan M. Brandt

,


The Cigarette Century

,

2007


Not the least of the Governors’ problems are the new

mandates

being put on them by Washington—by a President who was once one of their own.



— Karen Tumulty

,


Time

,

19 May 2003


Royal

mandates

must be obeyed.


They carried out the governor’s

mandate

to build more roads.


He won the election so convincingly that he believed he had been given a

mandate

for change.


Verb


The carbon prices on the European exchanges are higher precisely because the allowances for carbon emissions are

mandated

by government.



— Al Gore

,


An Inconvenient Truth

,

2006


But the FDA did nothing. Later, it protested that it doesn’t have the authority to

mandate

additional studies once a drug is marketed, but that is sophistry. The FDA has the authority to pull drugs off the market …



— Marcia Angell

,


New York Review of Books

,

8 June 2006


For a few tantalizing weeks this spring, the manufacturers of gun safety locks seemed to have hit the jackpot: the gun-control bill passed by the Senate in the wake of the Littleton shootings

mandated

that all new handguns be equipped with safety locks.



— Calvin Trillin

,


Time

,

5 July 1999


The law

mandates

that every car have seat belts.


He won the election so convincingly that he believed the people had

mandated

him to carry out his policies.


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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun


Verdugo considers those to be a suggestion, not a

mandate

.





BostonGlobe.com

, “Southern California has become baseball central,” 17 Apr. 2021


Citing a 95% drop in the daily average of deaths in the state, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced that a mask

mandate

set to expire Friday will not be renewed.




Travis Caldwell,

CNN

, “Nearly half of US states reported an increase in Covid-19 cases this week. Here’s what experts say can help stop another surge,” 16 Apr. 2021


But most claim to be following a

mandate

of science.




Richard Lindzen,

National Review

, “Climate ‘Emergency’? Not So Fast,” 16 Apr. 2021


His wishes, though, remain an expectation rather than a

mandate

because California’s decentralized education system lets the 1,200 school districts govern themselves.




Elinor Aspegren,

USA TODAY

, “California, Washington open up vaccine eligibility; empty middle seats on flights reduce exposure, CDC says: Live COVID-19 updates,” 16 Apr. 2021


Marketing for SMBs nearly always means working with fewer resources than their larger competitors but with a

mandate

to get big-budget results.




Jonathan Bacon,

Forbes

, “A 2021 Marketing Toolkit For Small Businesses,” 16 Apr. 2021


Without comment, commissioners agreed on Tuesday to discuss and possibly vote on doing away with the near year-long

mandate

at the next board meeting on April 27.




Martin E. Comas,

orlandosentinel.com

, “Seminole commissioner calls for end to county’s mask mandate,” 15 Apr. 2021


There’s no formal medical diagnosis and no

mandate

to screen for it.




Lindsey Tanner,

Anchorage Daily News

, “Loneliness is rampant. A simple call, or hug, may be a cure,” 15 Apr. 2021


The subjects show their attachments to one another in ways that are expressive but natural; the presence of a third party is neither an intrusion nor a

mandate

to perform.




Hanif Abdurraqib,

The New Yorker

, “The Timeless Pleasures of Dawoud Bey’s Street Portraits,” 15 Apr. 2021


Recent Examples on the Web: Verb


The optimism may be misplaced, especially if most universities don’t

mandate

the vaccine.




Nicholas Florko,

STAT

, “In the Covid-19 vaccine push, no one is speaking Gen Z’s language,” 8 Apr. 2021


After cold weather led to major power outages a decade ago, the state recommended that electric generators weatherize plants but did not

mandate

investments.





Dallas News

, “Natural gas suppliers failed Texas during the winter storm, too. How to fix that?,” 30 Mar. 2021


The state made safety recommendations for schools to reopen this year, such as social distancing in classrooms and cohorting students, but did not

mandate

any precautions outside of mask wearing.




Arika Herron,

The Indianapolis Star

, “Indiana schools will return to full-time, in-person school in the fall, Eric Holcomb says,” 23 Mar. 2021


Last summer, the state Department of Education asked all districts to offer a virtual and an in-person option for students, but didn’t

mandate

how to do it.





al

, “As teacher morale hit bottom, these Alabama districts looked for ways to ease workload,” 16 Mar. 2021


Silver said the league would not

mandate

that players get vaccinated.




Jeff Zillgitt,

USA TODAY

, “Members of Pelicans, including some players, receive first dose of COVID-19 vaccine,” 15 Mar. 2021


While Biden can’t

mandate

that states prioritize teachers for their vaccine supplies, Biden is challenging them to do so.




Justin Gomez,

ABC News

, “Biden says there will be enough vaccine for American adults by end of May,” 2 Mar. 2021


Because Texas operates its own grid, the state isn’t subject to federal oversight by FERC, which can investigate power outages but can’t

mandate

reforms.




Jeremy Schwartz,

ProPublica

, ““Power Companies Get Exactly What They Want”: How Texas Repeatedly Failed to Protect Its Power Grid Against Extreme Weather,” 22 Feb. 2021


The bill goes significantly further than a version Democrats introduced last week that would have required schools to offer an in-person option but did not

mandate

a full weekly schedule as communities wrestle with the coronavirus pandemic.





Washington Post

, “Virginia House Democrats move closer to mandating that schools reopen,” 22 Feb. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘mandate.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors.

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First Known Use of

mandate

Noun

1501, in the meaning defined at

sense 1

Verb

1919, in the meaning defined at

sense 1

History and Etymology for

mandate

Noun and Verb

Middle French & Latin; Middle French

mandat

, from Latin

mandatum

, from neuter of

mandatus

, past participle of

mandare

to entrust, enjoin, probably irregular from

manus

hand +

-dere

to put — more at

manual

,

do

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Learn More about

mandate

From the Editors at Merriam-Webster

Dictionary Entries near

mandate


mandarin porcelain


mandarin red


mandatary


mandate


mandated


mandatee


mandator


See More Nearby Entries

Statistics for

mandate

Last Updated

20 Apr 2021


Look-up Popularity

Cite this Entry

“Mandate.”

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary

, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate. Accessed 30 Apr. 2021.

Style:

MLA


MLA



Chicago



APA



Merriam-Webster

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More Definitions for

mandate

mandate



noun

English Language Learners Definition of

mandate

(Entry 1 of 2)


formal



:

an official order to do something



:

the power to act that voters give to their elected leaders

mandate



verb

English Language Learners Definition of

mandate

(Entry 2 of 2)


chiefly US

,

formal



:

to officially demand or require (something)



:

to officially give (someone) the power to do something


See the full definition for

mandate

in the English Language Learners Dictionary

mandate


noun


man·​date


|



ˈman-ˌdāt


Kids Definition of

mandate


1



:

an order from a higher court to a lower court


2



:

a command or instruction from an authority


3



:

the instruction given by voters to their elected representatives

mandate


noun


man·​date


|



ˈman-ˌdāt


Legal Definition of

mandate

(Entry 1 of 2)


1


a



:

a formal communication from a reviewing court notifying the court below of its judgment and directing the lower court to act accordingly


b


:



mandamus


2


in the civil law of Louisiana



:

an act by which a person gives another person the power to transact for him or her one or several affairs


3


a



:

an authoritative command

:

a clear authorization or direction

the

mandate

of the full faith and credit clause




National Law Journal


b



:

the authorization to act given by a constituency to its elected representative

mandate


transitive verb


mandated


;


mandating

Legal Definition of

mandate

(Entry 2 of 2)



:

to make mandatory or required

the Pennsylvania Constitution

mandates

a criminal defendant’s right to confrontation




National Law Journal

History and Etymology for

mandate

Noun

Latin

mandatum

, from neuter of

mandatus

, past participle of

mandare

to entrust, enjoin, probably irregularly from

manus

hand +

-dere

to put

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More from Merriam-Webster on

mandate

Thesaurus:

All synonyms and antonyms for

mandate

Nglish:

Translation of

mandate

for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English:

Translation of

mandate

for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com:

Encyclopedia article about

mandate

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mandate

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