Standard Lemma guide

delegation

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /dɛlɪˈɡeɪʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: D EH2 L AH0 G EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An act of delegating.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: turnover

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A group of delegates.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • the American delegation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A method-dispatching technique describing the lookup and inheritance rules for self-referential calls.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The act whereby or constellation in which the performance of an obligation (owed to an obligee, presuming its validity; irrespective of the obligation as the target of the delegation, rarely called delegatary) is assigned by its debtor (delegator, obligor) to and towards another party (delegatee, delegate)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

authorizing subordinates to make certain decisions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: delegating, relegating, relegation, deputation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: authorization, authorisation, empowerment

Narrower terms: devolution, devolvement

6

noun

Meaning 6

a group of representatives or delegates

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deputation, commission, delegacy, mission

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: organization, organisation

Narrower terms: diplomatic mission, embassy

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēlēgātiō, dēlēgātiōnis, from dēlēgō: compare French délégation.

Across languages

Translations

110 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: تَفْوِيض (tafwīḍ) — act of delegating
  • Finnish: delegointi — act of delegating
  • Finnish: antaminen tehtäväksi — act of delegating
  • Finnish: valtuutus — act of delegating
  • Finnish: valtuuttaminen — act of delegating
  • German: Delegierung — act of delegating
  • German: Abordnung — act of delegating
  • Hungarian: delegálás — act of delegating
  • Irish: tiomnú — act of delegating
  • Polish: delegowanie — act of delegating
  • Portuguese: delegação — act of delegating
  • Russian: делеги́рование (delegírovanije) — act of delegating
  • Swedish: delegering — act of delegating
  • Turkish: görevlendirme — act of delegating
  • Ukrainian: делегува́ння (delehuvánnja) — act of delegating
  • Albanian: delegacion — a group of delegates
  • Albanian: delegim — a group of delegates
  • Arabic: بِعْثَة (biʕṯa) — a group of delegates
  • Arabic: وَفْد (wafd) — a group of delegates
  • Armenian: պատվիրակություն (patvirakutʻyun) — a group of delegates
  • Asturian: delegación — a group of delegates
  • Azerbaijani: nümayəndə heyəti — a group of delegates
  • Belarusian: дэлега́цыя (deljehácyja) — a group of delegates
  • Bengali: প্রতিনিধিদল (protinidhidol) — a group of delegates
  • Bulgarian: делега́ция (delegácija) — a group of delegates
  • Burmese: ကိုယ်စားလှယ်အဖွဲ့ (kuiyca:hlaia.hpwai.) — a group of delegates
  • Catalan: delegació — a group of delegates
  • Chinese Cantonese: 代表團 /代表团 (doi6 biu2 tyun4) — a group of delegates
  • Chinese Mandarin: 代表團 /代表团 (dàibiǎotuán) — a group of delegates
  • Czech: delegace — a group of delegates
  • Danish: delegation — a group of delegates
  • Dutch: delegatie — a group of delegates
  • Esperanto: delegacio — a group of delegates
  • Estonian: delegatsioon — a group of delegates
  • Finnish: valtuuskunta — a group of delegates
  • Finnish: valtuusto — a group of delegates
  • Finnish: delegaatio — a group of delegates
  • Finnish: lähetystö — a group of delegates
  • French: délégation — a group of delegates
  • Georgian: დელეგაცია (delegacia) — a group of delegates
  • German: Delegation — a group of delegates
  • German: Abordnung — a group of delegates
  • Greek: αντιπροσωπεία (antiprosopeía) — a group of delegates
  • Gujarati: પ્રતિનિધિમંડળ (pratinidhimaṇḍaḷ) — a group of delegates
  • Hebrew: מִשְׁלַחַת (mishlákhat) — a group of delegates
  • Hindi: प्रत्यायोजन (pratyāyojan) — a group of delegates
  • Hindi: प्रतिनिधि मंडल (pratinidhi maṇḍal) — a group of delegates
  • Hindi: प्रतिनिधान (pratinidhān) — a group of delegates
  • Hindi: वफ़्द (vafd) — a group of delegates
  • Hungarian: delegáció — a group of delegates
  • Hungarian: küldöttség — a group of delegates
  • Icelandic: sendinefnd — a group of delegates
  • Ido: delegaciono — a group of delegates
  • Ido: delegitaro — a group of delegates
  • Irish: toscaireacht — a group of delegates
  • Italian: delegazione — a group of delegates
  • Japanese: 代表団 (daihyōdan) — a group of delegates
  • Kazakh: делегация (delegasiä) — a group of delegates
  • Khmer: គណៈបេសកកម្ម (kĕəʼnaʼpeesaʼkaʼkam) — a group of delegates
  • Khmer: គណៈប្រតិភូ (kĕəʼnaʼprɑtephuu) — a group of delegates
  • Korean: 대표단 (daepyodan) — a group of delegates
  • Northern Kurdish: delegasyon — a group of delegates
  • Northern Kurdish: şande — a group of delegates
  • Kyrgyz: делегация (delegatsiya) — a group of delegates
  • Lao: ຄະນະຜູ້ແທນ (kha na phū thǣn) — a group of delegates
  • Latvian: delegācija — a group of delegates
  • Lithuanian: delegacija — a group of delegates
  • Macedonian: делегација (delegacija) — a group of delegates
  • Malay: delegasi — a group of delegates
  • Māori: apārangi — a group of delegates
  • Mongolian: төлөөлөгч (tölöölögč) — a group of delegates
  • Norwegian Bokmål: delegasjon — a group of delegates
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: delegasjon — a group of delegates
  • Pashto: استازډله (astāzḍala) — a group of delegates
  • Pashto: نيابت (neyābat) — a group of delegates
  • Pashto: وفد (wafd) — a group of delegates
  • Iranian Persian: نَمایَنْدِگی (namâyandegi) — a group of delegates
  • Iranian Persian: وَفْد (vafd) — a group of delegates
  • Polish: delegacja — a group of delegates
  • Portuguese: delegação — a group of delegates
  • Romanian: delegație — a group of delegates
  • Russian: делега́ция (delegácija) — a group of delegates
  • Serbo-Croatian: делега́ција — a group of delegates
  • Serbo-Croatian: delegácija — a group of delegates
  • Slovak: delegácia — a group of delegates
  • Slovene: delegacija — a group of delegates
  • Spanish: delegación — a group of delegates
  • Swedish: delegation — a group of delegates
  • Tagalog: delegasyon — a group of delegates
  • Tajik: ҳайати вакилон (hayati vakilon) — a group of delegates
  • Tajik: ҳайати намояндагон (hayati namoyandagon) — a group of delegates
  • Tajik: намояндагӣ (namoyandagi) — a group of delegates
  • Tajik: вафд (vafd) — a group of delegates
  • Thai: คณะผู้แทน (ká-ná-pûu-tɛɛn) — a group of delegates
  • Turkish: delegasyon — a group of delegates
  • Turkmen: delegasiýa — a group of delegates
  • Turkmen: delegatsiýa — a group of delegates
  • Ukrainian: делега́ція (delehácija) — a group of delegates
  • Urdu: وَفْد (vafd) — a group of delegates
  • Uzbek: delegatsiya — a group of delegates
  • Vietnamese: đoàn đại biểu — a group of delegates
  • Finnish: delegointi — (computing) a method dispatching technique
  • German: Delegation — (computing) a method dispatching technique
  • Finnish: valtuutus — (law) the substitution of the person who performs
  • Finnish: valtuuttaminen — (law) the substitution of the person who performs
  • French: délégation — (law) the substitution of the person who performs
  • German: Anweisung — (law) the substitution of the person who performs
  • Latin: dēlēgātiō — (law) the substitution of the person who performs
  • Swedish: överlåtande — (law) the substitution of the person who performs
  • Welsh: dirprwyaeth — (law) the substitution of the person who performs
Real reading context

delegation in complete knowledge articles