legate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English legat,^[2][3] inherited from Old English legat,^[4][5][6] borrowed from Latin lēgātus (“ambassador, envoy, deputy”),^[7][8][4] and in later use also borrowed from Old French legat.^[7][9][8] Several dictionaries take the Old English word from French,^[5][10][6] but the OED notes that the French word is recorded later than the English one, from about 1155;^[7][11] Latin had used it for a papal envoy since the 5th century.^[7] The Latin noun is the masculine past participle of lēgō (“to send as a deputy; to bequeath”),^[7][8][9] and meant originally "provided with a commission".^[8][9] That verb comes from lēx (“law, contract”),^[7][9][4] and Etymonline suggests a literal sense "to engage by contract", tracing it to Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather”).^[8] The verb is borrowed from Latin lēgāt- (“bequeathed”), the past participial stem of that Latin verb in its sense "to bequeath".^[7][12] The obsolete sense "a legacy" comes from Anglo-Norman legat (“legacy, bequest”) and its source Latin lēgātum (“legacy, bequest”), the neuter past participle.^[7][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

An ecclesiastic sent to represent the Pope with his authority: before 1121,^[9] in late Old English in the Peterborough section of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.^[7] Etymonline dates it to the mid-12th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

According to Weekley the word at first meant only a papal legate.^[14] The general sense of an ambassador, delegate or messenger came in the 14th century: about 1350 in the OED,^[7] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[8] The OED notes that surnames such as Petrus Legat (1199) may imply secular use earlier.^[7] The Roman sense, the deputy of a general or provincial governor, entered in 1474 in Caxton,^[7] and the Papal States gave a further one, the governor of a province, from 1548.^[7] Johnson (1755) gave "a deputy; an ambassador" first and the Pope's commissioner second.^[15] The verb "to bequeath" often appears in the pairing give and legate.^[12]

Timeline

• before 1121 – a representative of the Pope.^[9][7]
• c. 1350 – an ambassador, delegate or messenger.^[7]
• 1438 – a legacy or bequest (obsolete by 1530).^[7][13]
• 1442 – adjective or past participle, bequeathed (obsolete by 1533).^[7][13]
• 1474 – in Roman history, the deputy of a general or provincial governor.^[7]
• probably before 1475 – legate a latere, a papal legate of the highest degree.^[7]
• 1546 – verb, to give by will.^[7] The Shorter Oxford dates the verb to the late 15th century, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to the 15th.^[12][4]
• 1548 – the governor of a province of the Papal States.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ecclesiastic, now usually a cardinal, sent to represent the pope with his authority.^[4][7][6]
2. legate a latere: a confidential papal legate of the highest degree.^[7]
3. An official envoy, such as an ambassador, delegate or messenger.^[6][7][4]
4. In Roman history, the deputy of a general or provincial governor; under the empire, the provincial governor himself.^[7]
5. Formerly, the governor of a province of the Papal States.^[7][4]
6. (obsolete, 1438–1530) A legacy or bequest.^[7][13]

Verb

1. To give by will; to bequeath.^[7][4][12]

Word family

• legateship
• legator
• legatee

Related words

• legatine
• legation
• legacy
• legal
• delegate

Usage notes

The noun is stressed on the first syllable, /ˈlɛɡət/, and the verb on the second, /lᵻˈɡeɪt/.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
3. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.