Delegate
/ˈdɛl.ɪ.ɡeɪt/noun
A person chosen to represent others, or to assign a task or responsibility to someone else.
Did you know?Delegate comes from Latin *delegare*, a political word built from *de-* (“away/down”) + *legare* (“to send, commission, appoint”), so the idea of passing power to another person is baked into the word itself.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leg-
“to gather, collect, pick out”
Latin
Latin
legere
“to gather, choose, read”
Classical Latin
Latin
delegare
“to send away, commission, entrust”
Old French
Old French
deleguer
“to appoint, send as a representative”
Late Middle English
English
delegat(e)
“a person sent to act for another; to assign authority or duty”