mandate
noun
- an obligation to engage in certain conditions or activities
verb
- cause by force of law, be obligatory
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈmæn.deɪt/ / /ˈmændeɪt/ / /mænˈdeɪt/
noun
Etymology: From man + date.
- Alternative form of man date: a date between two men.
“Moss: Oh, he's long gone, although Roy's got a mandate with him. Roy: It is not a mandate. I am not a man-woman. We are not married. I am not your wife!”
verb
Etymology: First attested in 1623; partly directly borrowed from Latin mandātus (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more), partly from the above noun by metanalysis.
- To (officially) require someone to do something or act in a certain way, to give them the authority to do so; to command.
“A delegate conference was called, and garages invited to mandate their representatives to vote for or against continuance.”
“Last June Illinois passed a bill requiring the state to trace sexual partners, […] but mandating the department to preserve the confidentiality of reports.”
- To make mandatory.
“Federal law mandates that at least one nongroup insurer in your state must provide coverage to everyone, regardless of health issues.”
“As the Superintendent of Austin, TX, schools I have mandated that our kids must be masked when they start school on Tuesday.”
- To administer or assign a territory to a nation under a mandate.
- To repeat, rehearse sermons or speeches aloud.
“After I have mandated my exercices.”
“He [sc. Archbishop Secker] then proceeds to express his disapprobation of what is called Mandating of Sermons, or repeating them from memory. This custom prevails much among foreign Divines, and throughout the whole Church of Scotland.”