It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for January 14th.

Today's word is delegate, spelled D-E-L-E-G-A-T-E. Delegate is a verb. To delegate something, such as control, responsibility, authority, or a job

or duty, is to trust someone else with it. Here's the word used in a sentence from the Toronto Star.

In practice, principles shuttle back and forth, sometimes multiple times a day, or divide their schedule between mornings

and afternoons, or alternate full days at each school. When they're off-site, they must formally

delegate authority, but parents and teachers say it's not always clear who holds decision-making

power. To delegate is to literally or figuratively

send someone else in your place, an idea that is reflected in the words origin. It's a descendant of the

Latin word, Legare, meaning to send as an envoy, a messenger or representative. The noun delegate, which refers to a person who

is chosen or elected to vote or act for others, arrived in English in the 14th century, while the

verb didn't make its entree until the early 16th century. Note that the verb rhymes with

relegate while the noun rhymes with

delicate. Some distant cousins of the word delegate that also trace back to Ligare include

legacy, colleague, relegate, and legate, meaning an official representative sent to a foreign country.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

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