mandate
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A document giving an official instruction or command.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mandaytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmændeɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A document giving an official instruction or command
An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept; an authorization.
canada
A period during which a government is in power.
politics
The order or authority to do something, as granted to a politician by the electorate.
verb
Assign authority to
To (officially) require someone to do something or act in a certain way, to give them the authority to do so; to command.
Make mandatory
“The new director of the school board mandated regular tests.”
To administer or assign a territory to a nation under a mandate.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A document giving an official instruction or command
Used this way, mandate is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Official and authoritative
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use mandate
- “The new director of the school board mandated regular tests.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The recipient of a mandate.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: document giving an official instruction or command
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.