delegate
n. countablen. a person who is chosen to represent a group at a meeting or event. You see delegates at big conferences or political gatherings where they vote on behalf of others.
n. a person designated to act for or represent another or others; a deputy to a representative assembly. Often used in the context of political conventions, trade union meetings, or international summits.
Each country sent a delegate to the climate conference.
The union members elected a delegate to present their list of demands to the management board during the annual meeting.
After hours of heated debate, the lead delegate from the small island nation managed to secure a compromise that protected their local fishing rights.
From Middle English delegat, from Old French delegat, from Latin dēlēgātus substantivized from the nominative masculine singular of dēlēgātus, the perfect passive participle of dēlēgō (“to send, assign, delegate”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix). See also legate.
From the above noun by metanalysis or directly borrowed from Latin dēlēgātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
From Middle English delegat(e) (“delegated”, used as a past participle and adjective), used as the past participle of delegate up until Early Modern English, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
Commonly used in formal institutional contexts; often followed by 'to' (e.g., 'a delegate to the convention').
The delegate of France spoke first.The delegate from France spoke first.While 'of' is occasionally used, 'from' or 'for' are the standard prepositions to indicate which entity the person represents.