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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Delegate


DELEGATE, verb transitive [Latin To send.]

1. To send away; appropriately, to send on an embassy; to send with power to transact business, as a representative. The President delegated three commissioners to the court of St. Cloud.

2. To entrust; to commit; to deliver to anothers care and exercise; as, to delegate authority or power to an envoy, representative or judge.

DELEGATE, noun

1. A person appointed and sent by another with powers to transact business as his representative; a deputy; a commissioner; a vicar. In the United States, a person elected or appointed to represent a state or a district, in the Congress, or in a Convention for forming or altering a constitution.

2. In Great Britain, a commissioner appointed by the king, under the great seal, to hear and determine appeals from the ecclesiastical court. Hence the Court of Delegates is the great court of appeal in all ecclesiastical causes. It is used also for the court of appeals from that of the admiralty.

3. A layman appointed to attend an ecclesiastical council.

DELEGATE, adjective Deputed; sent to act for or represent another; as a delegate judge.