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
- a person authorized to act as representative for...
Ancestry of “delegate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | delegat | — |
| 2 | Old French | delegat | — |
| 3 | Latin | dēlēgātus | delegated; sent on a commission |
| 4 | Latin | delego | I send, assign, dispatch, delegate; I confide,... |
| 5 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 6 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 7 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 8 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |