Dictionary Home » Dictionary Definitions » delegate

delegate

Listen See in Thesaurus See in a sentence

To delegate is defined as to assign a task to someone else or to give authority to someone else.

(verb)

An example of delegate is when you tell someone to get your mail for you.

The definition of a delegate is a representative authorized to speak or act for others.

(noun)

An example of a delegate is a politician who speaks on behalf of a group of people.

See delegate in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a person authorized or sent to speak and act for others; representative, as at a convention
☆ Historical a representative of a U.S. Territory in the House of Representatives, with the right to speak but not to vote
☆ a member of a House of Delegates

Origin: ME delegat < ML delegatus < pp. of L delegare, to send from one place to another, appoint, assign < de-, from + legare, to send: see legate

transitive verb delegated, delegating

to send or appoint as a representative or deputy
to entrust (authority, power, etc.) to a person acting as one's agent or representative

See delegate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy or an agent.
A representative to a conference or convention.
A member of a House of Delegates, the lower house of the Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia legislature.
An elected or appointed representative of a U.S. territory in the House of Representatives who is entitled to speak but not vote.

transitive verb (-gātˌ) del·e·gat·ed, del·e·gat·ing, del·e·gates

To authorize and send (another person) as one's representative.
To commit or entrust to another: delegate a task to a subordinate.
Law To appoint (one's debtor) as a debtor to one's creditor in place of oneself.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English delegat

Origin: , from Medieval Latin dēlēgātus

Origin: , from

Origin: past participle of dēlēgāre, to dispatch

Origin: : Latin dē-, de-

Origin: + Latin lēgāre, to send; see leg- in Indo-European roots

Related Forms: