Etymologically
Log in

mandato

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 19:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /manˈda.to/[1]

Forms

mandato m (plural mandati)[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word of the law and administration, borrowed from Latin mandātum (“charge, commission, order”), the neuter past participle of mandō (“to entrust; to order”) used as a noun.[2][3][4] The Latin verb is a compound of manus (“hand”) and -dō (“to put”), so “to put into someone's hand”.[1] The same borrowing is French mandat, recorded in 1488.[4][5] The past participle of mandare, which can also be used as a noun (“envoy”), is the Italian outcome of the same Latin verb.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI dates the sense “order” to the 13th century;[4][8][5] DELI's first dated sense is “authority to do something” in Giovanni Villani before 1348, and Villani also writes that a bishop did not obey the mandati del papa, the pope's orders.[4][8][5]

Semantic evolution

The legal senses followed: a judge's order to bring in or arrest an accused person, which DELI dates to about 1536, a written order of payment (1635, Florence) and the contract by which one person undertakes to act on another's behalf (1673).[8][4] In Old Italian the plural could be the feminine le mandata.[5]

After the First World War mandato named the system by which the League of Nations entrusted former colonies to other states, a usage first recorded in 1923.[8][9] In Italian politics the word is the mandate that voters give their representatives and the President's charge to form a government, as in mandato esplorativo; it also names a term of office.[9][6][10] In church use the mandato was the washing of the feet on Maundy Thursday.[11]

Timeline

  • 13th century – the sense “order” according to DEI.[4]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for “authority”.[8]
  • 1488 – French mandat is first recorded.[4]
  • c. 1536 – a judge's order of arrest is recorded.[8]
  • 1635 – an order of payment, in Florence.[4]
  • 1673 – Giovanni Battista De Luca uses it for the legal contract.[8]
  • 1923 – the international mandates of the League of Nations.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A charge or commission to do something, especially of public interest; a mandate: Il comitato ha ricevuto il mandato di riscrivere lo statuto.[11][9][7]
  2. (politics) The office entrusted to elected representatives, and its term; the charge to form a government: mandato parlamentare, mandato esplorativo.[9][7][10]
  3. (law) A contract by which one party acts on behalf of another.[11][9][7]
  4. (law) A judge's order, a warrant: mandato di arresto, mandato di perquisizione.[11][9][6]
  5. (finance) An order of payment or collection, and the document recording it: mandato di pagamento.[11][7][6]
  6. (history) A territory or the system of international mandates of the League of Nations.[9][7][12]
  7. (dated) An order, a command; a commandment.[6][5]

Word family

  • mandatario
  • mandante

Usage notes

Mandato is also the past participle of mandare “to send”, and as a literary noun “envoy, ambassador”.[6][7] The GDLI records a Tuscan mandato “handful”, a masculine form of manciata.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2342
  5. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 9, 627
  6. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  11. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  12. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca