# delegation

/ˌdɛɫəˈɡeɪʃən/ (US) · /dˌɛlɪɡˈeɪʃən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/delegation
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. giving tasks to others

noun · CEFR B2

the act of giving some of your work, duties, or power to someone else.

For teachers: the assignment of authority or responsibility to another person, typically from a manager to a subordinate.

- Effective delegation is important for managers who want to avoid burnout.
- The CEO's failure to practice effective delegation resulted in a bottleneck where every minor decision required her personal approval.

Usage: Often used as an uncountable noun in management contexts.

### 2. a group of representatives

noun · CEFR B2

a group of people chosen to represent their company, country, or organization at a meeting.

For teachers: a body of delegates chosen to represent a larger group, especially at a formal conference or diplomatic event.

- A large delegation from France arrived for the climate summit.
- The trade delegation spent three days negotiating the terms of the new bilateral agreement with their counterparts in Tokyo.

Usage: Usually a countable noun.

### 3. transferring a legal duty

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal · Technical

the act of passing a legal duty or debt to another person.

For teachers: the act by which a debtor or obligor assigns the performance of an obligation to another party.

- The contract allows for the delegation of duties to a third party.
- In contract law, delegation refers to the transfer of duties, whereas assignment refers to the transfer of rights to receive benefits.

Usage: Refers specifically to the transfer of duties rather than rights.

### 4. software method dispatch

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a way for one part of a computer program to use the functions of another part.

For teachers: a technique where an object handles a request by passing it to a second object, often used as an alternative to inheritance.

- The developer used delegation instead of inheritance to keep the code flexible.
- By employing delegation, the class can dynamically change its behavior at runtime by swapping the delegate object it refers to.

Usage: Common in object-oriented programming patterns.

## Examples

- Effective delegation allows managers to focus on more important tasks.
- The national delegation arrived at the summit ready to negotiate the new trade agreement on behalf of their government.
- In software architecture, delegation involves an object passing a request to a subordinate object that performs the task, thereby promoting modularity and reducing direct coupling between components.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.