What does delegatee mean?
A delegatee is the person or organization that receives a task, duty, power, or authority handed over by someone else — the delegator. The word belongs chiefly to formal registers: contracts, legal opinions, corporate policy documents, and administrative writing, where precision about who bears which obligation matters. Its value lies in clarity of direction. In ordinary conversation people tend to say "delegate" for both the act and the person involved, but "delegatee" removes ambiguity by naming only the receiving party. Importantly, especially in law and management, delegating work to a delegatee does not typically transfer ultimate accountability; the delegator often remains answerable if the task is performed poorly. Related terms include delegator (the giver), delegation (the act), and delegable (capable of being delegated). Anyone reading contracts, governance charters, or compliance documents will encounter this word, and knowing it helps untangle exactly who must do what — and who answers when something goes wrong.
nounA person or entity to whom a duty, task, power, or authority is delegated by another party. It is used chiefly in legal, business, and administrative contexts to identify the recipient of delegated responsibility.
- A person or body to whom a task, power, or authority has been delegated, especially in legal, contractual, or organizational settings.
"The manager remains accountable for the outcome even though the delegatee carried out the work."
"Under the subcontract, the contractor acts as delegatee for all site-safety obligations."
"Each delegatee was given clear instructions and the authority needed to complete the assignment."
The standard plural adds -s. It appears when several parties receive delegated duties under one arrangement.
"The policy lists all delegatees authorized to sign expenditure approvals."
In law, handing a job to a delegatee transfers the work but not the blame — the delegator stays on the hook either way.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of delegatee
Delegatee is formed from the verb "delegate," which English borrowed from Latin delegare, meaning to send away or assign, itself built from de- ("away") plus legare ("to send with a commission"). The suffix -ee, productive since Middle English, marks the passive or receiving party — as in appointee, addressee, and trustee — so a delegatee is literally the one to whom something is assigned. The -ee/-or pairing mirrors legal opposites such as lessor/lessee and grantor/grantee, which is why the word feels most at home in legal and business prose. Cognates sharing the Latin root include delegation, delegable, and relegate.
How delegatee is actually used
"Delegatee" is a formal term belonging mainly to legal drafting, contract language, corporate governance, and administrative writing; everyday speech usually prefers simply "delegate." The word is almost always paired with its counterpart "delegator," and careful writers keep the two distinct because confusing them reverses the direction of responsibility.
Easily confused with delegatee
A delegate is the person acting on another's behalf (and can also mean a conference representative), while delegatee specifically names the party receiving a delegated task, power, or duty.
The delegator is the one who hands off the task or authority; the delegatee is the one who receives it — they are opposite parties in the same transaction.
A legatee is a person who receives property under a will, whereas a delegatee receives delegated duties or powers rather than an inheritance.