The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Delegation \Del`e*ga"tion\, n. [L. delegatio: cf. F.
   d['e]l['e]gation.]
   1. The act of delegating, or investing with authority to act
      for another; the appointment of a delegate or delegates.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. One or more persons appointed or chosen, and commissioned
      to represent others, as in a convention, in Congress,
      etc.; the collective body of delegates; as, the delegation
      from Massachusetts; a deputation.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Rom. Law) A kind of novation by which a debtor, to be
      liberated from his creditor, gives him a third person, who
      becomes obliged in his stead to the creditor, or to the
      person appointed by him. --Pothier.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

delegation
    n 1: a group of representatives or delegates [syn: deputation,
         commission, delegation, delegacy, mission]
    2: authorizing subordinates to make certain decisions [syn:
       delegating, delegation, relegating, relegation,
       deputation]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

89 Moby Thesaurus words for "delegation":
   accession, agency, agentship, anointing, anointment, appointment,
   arrogation, assignment, assumption, authority, authorization,
   brevet, care, change, charge, commendation, commission,
   commissioning, commitment, committee, commutation, consecration,
   consignment, coronation, cure, delegated authority, deputation,
   deputyship, devolution, devolvement, displacement, election,
   embassy, empowerment, enfeoffment, entrusting, entrustment, errand,
   exchange, executorship, exequatur, factorship, full power,
   infeodation, infeudation, jurisdiction, legation,
   legitimate succession, license, lieutenancy, mandate, mission,
   office, plenipotentiary power, power of attorney, power to act,
   procuration, proxy, purview, quid pro quo, regency, regentship,
   relegation, remanding, replacement, representation, responsibility,
   seizure, subcommittee, subrogation, substitution, succession,
   supersedence, superseding, supersedure, supersession,
   supplantation, supplanting, supplantment, switch, taking over,
   task, tit for tat, trust, trusteeship, usurpation,
   vicarious authority, vicariousness, warrant



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DELEGATION, contracts. The transfer of authority from one or more persons to
one or more others.
     2. In general, all persons sui juris may delegate to another authority
to act for them, but to this rule there are exceptions; 1st. On account of
the thing to be done; and 2d. Because the act is of a personal nature, and
incapable of being delegated. 1. The thing to be done must be lawful; for an
authority to do a thing unlawful, is absolutely void. 5 Co. 80. 2.
Sometimes, when the thing to be done is lawful, it must be performed by the
person obligated himself. Com. Dig. Attorney, C 3; Story, on Ag. Sec. 12.
     3. When a bare power or authority has been given to another, the latter
cannot in general delegate that authority or any part of it to a third
person, for the obvious reason that the principal relied upon the
intelligence, skill and ability of his agent, and he cannot have the same
confidence in a stranger. Bac. Ab. Authority, D; Com. Dig. Authority, C 3;
12. Mass. 241; 4 Mass. 597; 1 Roll. Ab. Authority, C 1, 15; 4 Camp. 183; 2
M. & Selw. 298, 301; 6 Taunt. 146; 2 Inst. 507.
     4. To this general rule that one appointed as agent, trustee, and the
like, cannot delegate his authority, there are exceptions: 1. When the agent
is expressly authorized to make a substitution. 1 Liverm. on Ag. 54. 2. When
the authority is implied, as in the following: cases: 1st. When by the laws
such power is indispensable in order to accomplish the end proposed, as, for
example, when goods are directed to be sold at auction, and the laws forbid
such sales except by licensed auctioneers. 6 S. & R. 386. 2d. When the
employment of such substitute is in the ordinary course of trade, as where
it is the custom of trade to employ a ship broker or other agent for the
purpose of procuring freight and the like. 2 M. & S. 301; 3 John. Ch. R.
167, 178; 6 S. & R. 386. 3d. When it is understood by the parties to be the
mode in which the particular thing would be done. 9 Ves. 234; 3 Chit. Com
Law, 206. 4th. When the powers thus delegated are merely mechanical in their
nature. 1 Hill, (N. Y.) R. 501 Bunb. 166; Sugd. on Pow. 176.
     5. As to the form of the delegation, it may be for general purposes, by
a verbal or by a written declaration not under seal, or by acts and
implications. 3 Chit. Com. Law, 5, 194, 195; 7 T. R. 350. But when the act
to be done must be under seal, the delegation must also be under seal. Co.
Litt. 48 b; 5 Binn. 613; 14 S. & R. 331 See Authority.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DELEGATION, civil law. It is a kind of novation, (q.v.) by which the
original debtor, in order to be liberated from his creditor, gives him a
third person, who becomes obliged in his stead to the creditor, or to the
person appointed by him.
     2. It results from this definition that a delegation is made by the
concurrence of three parties, and that there may be a fourth. There must be
a concurrence, 1. Of the party delegating, that is, the ancient debtor, who
procures another debtor in his stead. 2. Of the party delegated, who enters
into the obligation in the place of the ancient debtor, either to the
creditor of to some other person appointed by him. 3. Of the creditor, who,
in consequence of the obligation contracted by the party delegated,
discharges the party delegating. Sometimes there intervenes a fourth party
namely, the person indicated by the creditor in whose favor the person
delegated becomes obliged, upon the indication of the creditor, and by the
order of the person delegating. Poth. Ob. part. 3, c. 2, art. 6. See Louis.
Code, 2188, 2189; 3 Wend. 66; 5 N. H. Rep. 410; 20 John. R. 76; 1 Wend. 164;
14 Wend. 116; 11 Serg. & Rawle, 179.
     3. Delegation is either perfect or imperfect. It is perfect, When the
debtor who makes the delegation, is discharged by the creditor. It is
imperfect when the creditor retains his rights against the original debtor.
2 Duverg. n. 169. See Novation.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DELEGATION, legislation. It signifies the whole number of the persons who
represent a district, a state, and the like, in a deliberative assembly; as,
the delegation from Ohio, the delegation from the city of Philadelphia.



The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

DELEGATION, n.  In American politics, an article of merchandise that
comes in sets.