legate

See also: Legate and lëgatë

English

Etymology

From late Old English, from Old French legat, from Latin legatus (nominal use of perfect passive participle of lego (“bequeath, send as envoy”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛɡɪt/, /ˈlɛɡət/
• Rhymes: -ɛɡɪt, -ɛɡət

Noun

legate (plural legates)

1. A deputy representing the pope, specifically a papal ambassador sent on special ecclesiastical missions.
2. An ambassador or messenger.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene i:

     Moſt great and puiſant Monarke of the earth,
     Your Baſſoe wil accompliſh your beheſt:
     And ſhew your pleaſure to the Perſean,
     As fits the Legate of the ſtately Turke.

   • 1965, John Fowles, The Magus:

     The dark figure on the raised white terrace; legate of the sun facing the sun; the most ancient royal power.

3. The deputy of a provincial governor or general in ancient Rome.
   • 1911, Rudyard Kipling, “The Roman Centurion’s Song”, in The History of England:

     Legate, I had the news last night—my cohort ordered home
     By ships to Portus Itius and thence by road to Rome.

Related terms

• legatine
• prolegate

Translations

deputy representing the pope

Armenian: նվիրակ (hy) (nvirak), լեգատ (hy) (legat) Bulgarian: легат m (legat) Classical Nahuatl: huēyi teōpixcātītlantli, Santo Padre ītītlan Czech: legát m Dutch: legaat (nl) m Esperanto: legato French: légat (fr) m Middle French: legat m Old French: legat m German: Legat (de) m Greek: παπικός έξαρχος m (papikós éxarchos) Hungarian: legátus (hu), nuncius (hu) Polish: legat (pl) m Russian: лега́т (ru) m (legát)

ambassador or messenger

Bulgarian: пратеник (bg) m (pratenik) Czech: vyslanec (cs) m German: Gesandte (de) m Greek: απεσταλμένος (el) m (apestalménos), εκπρόσωπος (el) m (ekprósopos) Hungarian: követ (hu) Latin: lēgātus (la) m

deputy of a provincial governor or general in ancient Rome

Armenian: նվիրակ (hy) (nvirak), լեգատ (hy) (legat) Dutch: legaat (nl) m Esperanto: legato n pl French: légat (fr) m Greek: έξαρχος (el) m (éxarchos) Hungarian: helytartó (hu) Polish: legat (pl) m Russian: лега́т (ru) m (legát)

Verb

legate (third-person singular simple present legates, present participle legating, simple past and past participle legated)

1. (transitive) To leave as a legacy.

Anagrams

• Teagle, eaglet, gelate, teagle, telega

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leˈɡate/
• Rhymes: -ate

Adverb

legate

1. present adverbial passive participle of legi

Italian

Etymology 1

Adjective

legate

1. feminine plural of legato

Participle

legate f pl

1. feminine plural of legato

Etymology 2

Noun

legate f pl

1. plural of legata

Etymology 3

Verb

legate

1. inflection of legare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Anagrams

• gelate

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /leːˈɡaː.te/, [ɫ̪eːˈɡäːt̪ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /leˈɡa.te/, [leˈɡäːt̪e]

Noun

lēgāte

1. vocative singular of lēgātus

Participle

lēgāte

1. vocative masculine singular of lēgātus

Spanish

Verb

legate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of legar combined with te