Mān'date, n.

n. [Lat. mandatum, Fr. & Pr. mandat, Sp. & It. mandato. See supra.] 1. An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept. *This dream all-powerful Juno sends: I bear Her mighty mandates, and her words you hear.* Dryden.

2. (Canon Law.) A rescript of the pope, commanding an ordinary collator to put the person therein named in possession of the first vacant benefice in his collation.
3. (Scots Law.) A contract by which one employs another to manage any business for him. By the Roman law, it must have been gratuitous. Erskine.