mandate

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
mandate

▶noun /ˈmandeɪt/ 

• 1 an official order or commission to do something.

• 2 Law a commission by which a party is entrusted to perform a service, especially without payment and with indemnity against loss by that party.

• 3 a written authority enabling someone to carry out transactions on another's bank account.

• 4 historical a commission from the League of Nations to a member state to administer a territory.

• 5 the authority to carry out a policy or course of action, regarded as given by the electorate to a party or candidate that wins an election.

▶verb /manˈdeɪt/ 

• 1 give (someone) authority to act in a certain way.

• 2 make mandatory.

• 3 historical assign (territory) under a mandate of the League of Nations.

– derivatives
mandated adjective.

– origin C16: from L. mandatum ‘something commanded’, neut. past part. of mandare, from manus ‘hand’ + dare ‘give’.