| Main Entry: | delegate |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | representative, often governmental |
Synonyms: |
agent, alternate, ambassador, appointee, catchpole, commissioner, consul, deputy, emissary, envoy, factor, front*, legate, member, member of congress, minister, mouthpiece, nominee, people's choice, pinch hitter, plenipotentiary, proxy, regent, rep, replacement, senator, spokesperson, stand-in, substitute, surrogate, vicar, viceroy |
| Notes: | as a noun, delegate is a person appointed or elected to represent others - as a verb delegate means to transfer power or authority to someone; relegate means to refer to another person for decision or judgment or assign to a lower position or reduce in rank a delegation differs from a legation in that the members of a delegation are usually not charged with a specific mission but merely with the overall task of representing the interests of a body of people, often at a conference during an assembly's regular session; a legate usually acts alone while a delegate acts as part of a group |