Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “delegate” come from?

Delegate comes from Old French delegat, from Latin delegatus, past participle of delego, meaning to send as a representative, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root leǵ- meaning to collect or gather.

delegate (English): a person authorized to act as representative for...

Definitions

  1. a person authorized to act as representative for...

Ancestry of “delegate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishdelegat—
2Old Frenchdelegat—
3Latindēlēgātus—
4LatindelegoI send, assign, dispatch, delegate; I confide,...
5Latindē-—
6Latindē—
7Latinpostbehind; after, since, besides, except; behind,...
8Latinposteablative singular of postis
9Proto-Italicposti—
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpósti—
11Proto-Indo-Europeanpósafterwards, post; by, at

Words derived from “delegate”

  • del
  • delegator
  • delegatee
  • subdelegate
  • superdelegate
  • delegee
  • delegatable
  • redelegate
  • nondelegate
  • super-delegate
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pós →