# mandate

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmændeɪt/ · frequency rank #7,472

## Definitions
1. An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept; an authorization.
2. The order or authority to do something, as granted to a politician by the electorate.
3. A period during which a government is in power.
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. 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.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **mundane** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mandate-vs-mundane)
- **Margate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mandate-vs-margate)
- **mandated** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mandate-vs-mandated)
- **mandrake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mandate-vs-mandrake)
- **manage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/manage-vs-mandate)
- **madame** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/madame-vs-mandate)
- **magnate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/magnate-vs-mandate)
- **mandala** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mandala-vs-mandate)
- **manatee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/manatee-vs-mandate)

## Common misspellings (10)
`amndate`, `madnate`, `manadte`, `mandaet`, `mandatte`, `manddate`, `mandtae`, `manndate`, `mmandate`, `mnadate`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mandate