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mandate

man·date/ˈmeə̯ndeɪ̯t/noun, verb

mandate is spelled M-A-N-D-A-T-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (man·date). It appears 9.3 times per million words in written English, the 7,445th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mandate means “An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept; an authorization” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mandate is mandates.

How many letters and syllables are in mandate?

Letters7: M-A-N-D-A-T-E
Syllables2: man·date
In writing9.3 times per million words; the 7,445th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is mandate?

Mandate appears 9.3 times per million words in written English, the 7,445th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce mandate?

  • /ˈmændeɪ̯t/
  • [ˈmændeɪ̯t]
  • US /ˈmeə̯ndeɪ̯t/

As a verb (“To (officially) require someone to do something or act in a…”): /ˈmændeɪt/, /mænˈdeɪt/.

As a noun (“Alternative form of man date: a date between two men”): /ˈmæn.deɪt/.

Mandate has 2 syllables, split man·date in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mandate1.wav, En-us-mandate.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mandate2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with mandate

Also written: man date (one word or two).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of mandate

  • mandates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • mandating participle, present
  • mandated participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does mandate mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept; an authorization.

  2. 2

    The order or authority to do something, as granted to a politician by the electorate.

  3. 3

    CanadaA period during which a government is in power.

  4. 4

    An order by the League of Nations to a member nation to establish a government responsible for a conquered territory, as the colonies of Germany after World War I.

  5. 5

    Such a territory.

  6. 6

    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

  1. 1

    To (officially) require someone to do something or act in a certain way, to give them the authority to do so; to command.

  2. 2

    To make mandatory.

  3. 3

    To administer or assign a territory to a nation under a mandate.

  4. 4

    ScotlandTo repeat, rehearse sermons or speeches aloud.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Mandate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmandat (official command), autoriser (authorize)
GermanMandat (official command), ermächtigen, bevollmächtigen, autorisieren (authorize), Ermächtigung, Legitimation (the authority to do something or to act)
Portuguesemandado (official command)
Spanishmandato, comandamiento (official command), mandar, ordenar, preceptuar (authorize), mando (the authority to do something or to act)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does mandate come from?

First attested in 1521; borrowed from Latin mandātum (“a charge, order, command, commission, injunction”), substantivized from the neuter forms of mandātus, perfect passive participle of mandō (“to commit to one's charge, order, command, commission, literally to put into one's hands”) (see -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from manus (“hand”) + -dere (“to put”). Sense 3 in Canadian English is likely a semantic loan from French mandat.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after mandate