mandate

Etymology 1

Noun is borrowed from Latin mandātum (“a charge, order, command, commission, injunction”), neut of. mandātus, past participle of mandāre (“to commit to one's charge, order, command, commission, literally to put into one's hands”), from manus (“hand”) + dare (“to put”). Compare command, commend, demand, remand. The verb is from the noun.

noun

1. An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept; an authorization.
   Instead, May, more sheep than shepherd, has feebly allowed herself to be driven ever further towards an extreme, inflexible, take-it-or-leave-it stance for which she has neither mandate nor credible grounds. March 27, 2017, “The Observer view on triggering article 50”, in The Observer
2. (politics) The order or authority to do something, as granted to a politician by the electorate.
   John Tyler and James K. Polk both regarded the election results as a mandate for the annexation of Texas. 2002, Leroy G. Dorsey, The Presidency and Rhetorical Leadership, Texas A&M University Press, page 30
3. (Canada) A period during which a government is in power.
   Throughout his last mandate, from 1980 to 1984, Mr. Trudeau insisted that we see ourselves solely as Canadians, that we set aside the historic compromises that underlie Canada as a federation. October 6, 2000, John Richards, “Pierre Elliott Trudeau: 1919-2000”, in The Globe and Mail, archived from the original on 2019-10-09
4. (historical) 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.
   1. (historical) Such a territory.

verb

1. To authorize.
2. To make mandatory.

Etymology 2

From man + date.

noun

1. (uncommon) 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! 2007 September 7, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 2, Episode 3