Word Confusion: Delegate versus Relegate

Posted May 19, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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It’s easy to confuse this pair of words — delegate versus relegate.

Delegate is both noun and transitive verb meaning to send someone in your place to complete a task. Think an ambassador representing his country, a union rep, or a senator or congressman (supposedly) representing a particular group of people.

To relegate means to send someone down in rank — strictly a transitive verb.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.

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Delegate	Relegate
Delegate of Mauritius by UNCTAD is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.	Punch, 1881, Punch‘s Fancy Portraits – No 54, is courtesy of Wellcome Images under the CC BY 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Darwin’s theory relegated his own species as low as possible.
Part of Grammar:
Noun; Verb, transitive Plural for the noun and third person present verb: delegates Past tense or past participle: delegated Gerund or present participle: delegating	Verb, transitive Third person present verb: relegates Past tense or past participle: relegated Gerund or present participle: relegating
Noun: A person sent or authorized to represent others, in particular an elected representative sent to a conference A member of a committee Deputy Representative, as in a political convention [Formerly] The representative of a Territory in the U.S. House of Representatives A member of the lower house of the state legislature of Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia Verb, transitive: Entrust (a task or responsibility) to another person, typically one who is less senior than oneself [With infinitive] Send or authorize (someone) to do something as a representative	Consign or dismiss to an inferior rank, position, place, or condition To consign or commit (a matter, task, etc.), as to a person To assign or refer (something) to a particular class or kind [Followed by to] To send into exile Banish [General sporting terms; usually passive; chiefly British] To demote (a football team, etc) to a lower division
Examples:
Noun: The delegates rejected the proposal. First, about 27 districts sent two delegates (double representation) to this congress. As a conference delegate representing the region, she has already successfully moved several resolutions. Verb, transitive: The power delegated to him must never be misused. He delegates routine tasks. Edward was delegated to meet new arrivals.	They aim to prevent women from being relegated to a secondary role. He has been relegated to a post at the fringes of the diplomatic service. He relegates the less pleasant tasks to his assistant. Entire groups are being relegated to the status of second-class citizens. It was common practice in Ancient Rome to relegate persons who threatened the status quo. They were relegated to Siberia for no reason. Chauncey and Brown were relegated to the Third Division.
Derivatives:
Adjective: delegable Noun: delegator	Adjective: relegable, unrelegable Noun: relegation
History of the Word:
Late Middle English from the Latin delegatus ‘meaning sent on a commission, from the verb delegare, from de- (down) + legare (depute).	Late Middle English, in the sense send into exile from the Latin relegat- meaning sent away, referred, from the verb relegare, from re- (again) + legare (send).

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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