delegate

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English (noun) < Medieval Latin dēlēgātus, noun use of Latin: past participle of dēlēgāre to assign, equivalent to dē- de- + lēgātus deputed; see legate

Related forms

del·e·ga·tee

[del-i-guh-tee] , noun

del·e·ga·tor

[del-i-gey-ter] , noun

non·del·e·gate, noun

pre·del·e·gate, noun, verb, pre·del·e·gat·ed, pre·del·e·gat·ing.

re·del·e·gate, verb (used with object), re·del·e·gat·ed, re·del·e·gat·ing.

sub·del·e·gate, noun

sub·del·e·gate, verb (used with object), sub·del·e·gat·ed, sub·del·e·gat·ing.

un·del·e·gat·ed, adjective

Synonyms
5. entrust, assign, transfer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source

Link To delegate

Collins

World English Dictionary

delegate

—n
1.	a person chosen or elected to act for or represent another or others, esp at a conference or meeting
2.	(US) government a representative of a territory in the US House of Representatives

—vb
3.	to give or commit (duties, powers, etc) to another as agent or representative; depute
4.	(tr) to send, authorize, or elect (a person) as agent or representative
5.	chiefly (US) (tr) to assign (a person owing a debt to oneself) to one's creditor in substitution for oneself

[C14: from Latin dēlēgāre to send on a mission, from lēgāre to send, depute; see legate]

delegable

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

delegate

late 14c., from L. delegatus, pp. of delegare "to send as a representative," from de- "from, away" + legare "send with a commission." The verb is from 1520s.

Example sentences

To get the benefits of diversified public ownership of firms, shareholders must

delegate responsibility to managers, or agents.

As a result, voters who delegate their ultimate power and authority to their

parliamentary representatives are excluded.

As president, your job was not to delegate moral responsibility for these acts,

but to take moral responsibility for them.

The art is to delegate this task to people who are actually motivated to do it.

Remove ads like these. Upgrade now!

delegation delegatory devolve dispensation embassy emissary

Matching Quote

"A broad consensus exists that Lincoln was more eloquent than Davis in expressing war aims, more successful in communicating with the people, more skillful as a political leader in keeping factions working together for the war effort, better able to endure criticism and work with his critics to achieve a common goal. Lincoln was flexible, pragmatic, with a sense of humor to smooth relationships and help him survive the stress of his job; Davis was austere, rigid, humorless, with the type of personality that readily made enemies. Lincoln had a strong physical constitution; Davis suffered ill health and was frequently prostrated with illness. Lincoln picked good administrative subordinates (with some exceptions) and knew how to delegate authority to them; Davis went through five secretaries of war in four years; he spent a great deal of time and energy on petty administrative details that he should have left to subordinates. A disputatious man, Davis sometimes seemed to prefer winning an argument to winning the war; Lincoln was happy to lose an argument if it would help him win the war."

-Gabor S. Boritt