What does delegable mean?
Delegable is a formal adjective describing a duty, power, or responsibility that can be transferred to another person to perform on someone else's behalf. When authority is delegable, it need not be exercised personally by the person who holds it; it can be assigned downward to a subordinate, agent, or committee. The word appears most often in law, government, and workplace management, where determining what is delegable — and what is not — has real consequences for accountability. In many jurisdictions, for example, certain obligations are treated as nondelegable, meaning the original duty-holder remains liable even after hiring others to carry out the work. The term derives from 'delegate', ultimately rooted in the Latin 'delegare', meaning to send or entrust. Knowing whether a task is delegable helps managers distribute work sensibly while retaining ultimate responsibility.
adjectiveCapable of being delegated, especially of a duty, power, or authority that may be transferred to another person to act on one's behalf.
- (of a duty, power, or responsibility) able to be delegated or entrusted to another person
"The board determined that routine approval of expenditures was delegable to the finance committee."
"Under the statute, the minister's licensing power is expressly delegable to senior officials."
"Good managers quickly learn to distinguish tasks that are delegable from those that demand their personal attention."
Not everything you're responsible for is actually yours alone to do — 'delegable' names exactly which parts of a job can legally and properly be passed down the chain.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of delegable
Delegable is formed from the verb 'delegate' plus the suffix '-able'. 'Delegate' comes from the Latin 'delegare' ('to send away, dispatch, or entrust'), built on 'de-' ('away') and 'legare' ('to send with a commission, to appoint'). The same Latin root 'legare' also produced related English words such as 'legate', 'legation', and 'relegate'. The adjective arose in English through ordinary derivational processes, with its use concentrated in legal and administrative contexts.
How delegable is actually used
A formal word found chiefly in legal, governmental, and management writing. It frequently appears in negated form as 'nondelegable', especially in law, where certain duties (such as an employer's nondelegable duty to provide a safe workplace) cannot be transferred to a contractor or agent.
Easily confused with delegable
'Delegated' describes something that has already been handed off to another person, while 'delegable' describes something that merely can be handed off.
'Illegible' means impossible to read because of poor handwriting or print, whereas 'delegable' concerns the transferability of duties or authority.