mandate

Noun · Verb

Synonyms: authorization authorisation mandatory

WordNet 3.0

Noun (3)

a document giving an official instruction or commandSynonyms: authorization authorisation
a territory surrendered by Turkey or Germany after World War I and put under the tutelage of some other European power until they are able to stand by themselvesSynonyms: mandatory
the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory

Verb (3)

assign under a mandate“mandate a colony”
make mandatory“the new director of the school board mandated regular tests”
assign authority to

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Mandate \Man"date\, n. [L. mandatum, fr. mandare to commit to one's charge, order, orig., to put into one's hand; manus hand + dare to give: cf. F. mandat. See Manual, Date a time, and cf. Commend, Maundy Thursday.]

1.An official or authoritative command, order, or authorization from a superior official to a subordinate; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept. [1913 Webster]

This dream all-powerful Juno; I bear Her mighty mandates, and her words you hear.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

2.Hence: (Politics) An authorization to carry out a specific public policy, given by the electorate to their representatives; -- it is considered to be implied by the election of a candidate by a significant margin after that candidate has campaigned with that policy as a prominent element of the campaign platform. [PJC]

3.Hence: Authorization by a multinational body to a nation to administer the government and affairs of a territory, usually a former colony; as, termination of the British mandate in Palestine. [PJC]

4.(Canon Law) A rescript of the pope, commanding an ordinary collator to put the person therein named in possession of the first vacant benefice in his collation. [1913 Webster]

5.(Scots Law) A contract by which one employs another to manage any business for him. By the Roman law, it must have been gratuitous. --Erskine. [1913 Webster]