delegate

A delegate is a person authorized to act for another, often in a formal setting such as a conference, convention, or assembly. The term derives from the Latin delegatus, meaning “a person sent as a representative.” Delegates may vote, negotiate, or make decisions on behalf of a group, depending on the rules governing their role.

In politics and governance, delegates are individuals selected to represent a larger body or constituency. They may be bound by mandates or instructed to vote according to the preferences of those they represent, though some delegates retain discretion. Delegates are common in party conventions, legislative bodies, and international organizations. The distinction between delegates and representatives varies by system, with some models emphasizing direct delegation of specific instructions and others emphasizing broader accountability and continuous representation.

Delegation of authority is a management practice in which a person transfers responsibility and decision-making power to another within defined limits. This enables organizational efficiency and leadership development, while accountability remains with the delegator.

In computing, the delegate pattern is a design approach in which an object or function handles a task on behalf of another object. In several programming languages, a delegate is a type-safe reference to a method, enabling callbacks, event handling, and decoupled architectures. C# uses delegates as first-class types, while other languages implement similar concepts under different names, such as function pointers, blocks, or closures.

Overall, a delegate is any agent—human or programmatic—trusted to act for another under established rules.