mandate: Meaning and Definition of

man•date

1. a command or authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative: The president had a clear mandate to end the war.
2. a command from a superior court or official to a lower one.
3. an authoritative order or command: a royal mandate.
4. (in the League of Nations) a commission given to a nation to administer the government and affairs of a former Turkish territory or German colony.
5. a mandated territory or colony.
6. an order issued by the pope, esp. one commanding the preferment of a certain person to a benefice.
7. a contract by which one engages gratuitously to perform services for another.
8. (in modern civil law) any contract by which a person undertakes to perform services for another.
9. an order or decree by the emperor, esp. to governors of provinces.

1. to authorize or decree (a particular action), as by the enactment of law.
2. to order or require; make mandatory: to mandate sweeping changes in the election process.
3. to consign (a territory, colony, etc.) to the charge of a particular nation under a mandate.