deputation, n.
(dɛpjuːˈteɪʃən)
[f. L. type *dēputātiōn-em, n. of action from dēputāre to depute: cf. F. députation (16th c. in Littré), It. deputazione (deputatione, Florio 1598).]
The action of deputing, or fact of being deputed.
† 1. gen. Appointment, ordination, assignment (to an office, function, etc.). Obs.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 178 He shall..Ordeigne his deputation Of suche juges, as ben lerned. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. xii. 220 The deputacioun and the assignyng bi which the visible eukarist is ordeyned and assigned forto represente the bodi of Crist. 1509–10 Act 1 Hen. VIII, c. 9 The Chaunceller..[shall] have the Deputacion and Assignement of..Persones..that they shall take and receyve the seid Toule and Custome. 1640 Bp. Hall Episc. ii. xxi. 207 One Bartolomæus the Bishop of the Hereticks..taking upon him the Deputation of that Anti-pope, yeelded unto him a wicked and abhominable reverence. a 1647 Filmer Patriarcha (1887) 32 It seems they did not like a king by deputation but desired one by succession. 1650 R. Hollingworth Usurped Powers 68 None can take it in hand but by deputation from him. |
2. spec. Appointment to act on behalf of another; delegation.
| [1534 Act 26 Hen. VIII, c. 3 §4 Any person..to whome any deputacion shalbe made by commission.] 1552 Huloet, Deputation, subsortitio, substitutio, surrogatio. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxxi. §7 Vnto all these..the law hath..given leaue, while themselues bear waightier burthens, to supply inferiour by deputation. 1698 Norris Treat. Sev. Subjects 280 That we Feed them our selves, and not by Proxy or Deputation. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 44 The king..grants this deputation to a person regularly bred to the law. 1863 A. J. Horwood Year-bks. 30–1 Edw. I, Pref. 29 An attorney might be appointed for a particular suit or generally for all suits, and the latter kind of deputation was common in Eyre. |
† b. A document conveying such an appointment; a commission, warrant. Obs.
| 1628 Digby Voy. Medit. (1868) 4 This same day I sealed to Sir Edward Stradling a deputation of being my Vice-admirall. 1691 Lond. Gaz. No. 2698/4 A black Hair'd Man, who went about the Countries with a false Deputation. 1798 Jane Austen Lett. I. 162 James Digweed called to day, and I gave him his brother's deputation. |
† 3. An appointment by the lord of the manor to the office and rights of a gamekeeper; a document conveying such appointment under statutory authority. Obs.
(The deputation was necessary to constitute a gamekeeper; but it was also frequently used as a means of giving to friends the privilege of shooting game over an estate.)
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones iv. v, The squire declared..he would give the game-keeper his deputation the next morning. c 1815 Jane Austen Persuasion iii. (D.), He..had inquired about the manor; would be glad of the deputation, certainly, but made no great point of it; said he sometimes took out a gun, but never killed. 1869 Daily News 23 Apr., Formerly the Woods and Forests gave what were called ‘deputations’ to gentlemen to shoot over the Crown lands. 1880 S. Walpole Hist. Eng. III. 63 Country gentlemen who were desirous of doing a neighbour a good turn were in the habit of giving him a ‘deputation’ as a gamekeeper. |
4. A body of persons appointed to go on a mission on behalf of another or others. Often a small company (or a single person) deputed by a society to visit various places on behalf of the society. (The chief current use.)
| 1732 T. Lediard Sethos II. ix. 344 They propos'd to send a deputation of four senators. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, I. vi. 186 A deputation of the Houses waited on the King. 1879 M{supc}Carthy Own Times II. xxii. 146 The deputations represented certain metropolitan parishes, and were the exponents of markedly Radical opinions. |
Hence depuˈtation, depuˈtationize v., to visit with a deputation; depuˈtational a., of or belonging to a deputation; depuˈtationist, one who belongs to or supports a deputation.
| 1885 Manch. Exam. 18 Mar. 5/3 The trustees are on the side of the deputationists. 1888 Balance Sheet Manchester Ch. of E. Temp. Soc., Travelling and Deputational Expenses. 1888 Lanc. Evening Post 3 Feb. 2/4 The Prime Minister has been deputationised by some of the most expert among our sociologists. 1891 Scott. Leader 12 Jan. 4 The Unionists..last week ‘deputationed’ Mr. Goschen. |