Other forms: mandated, mandates, mandating
A mandate is the authority to act, given by those who elected you. A clear mandate, no mandate for it, an electoral mandate.
It is the central claim in any argument about what a government may do: winning an election is said to give a mandate for the manifesto, and opponents deny the mandate covers whatever is being proposed. As a verb it means to require by law or rule: mandatory, mandated. Note that a mandate was also a territory administered on behalf of the League of Nations between the wars.
1nounmandateThe authority to act, given by those who elected you.
“The new government says the election result gives it a clear mandate to cut taxes.”
2verbrequireTo require something by law or rule.
“The law mandates that all new buildings must have fire alarms.”
mandate is an authority to act.
Latin mandatum comes from mandare, to put into somebody's hand — manus, hand, plus dare, to give. Command, demand and manual come from the same hand.
Proto-Indo-European
*(s)meh₂-
French
mandat
Latin
mandātum — a charge, order, command, commission, injunction
English, today
mandate
Built from
1521; 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), from manus (“hand”) + -do (“to put”). Sense 3 in Canadian English is likely a French mandat.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA