Maundy Thursday
Thursday before Easter, mid-15c., from Middle English maunde "the Last Supper" (c. 1300), also "ceremony of washing the feet of poor persons or inferiors, performed as a religious rite on Maundy Thursday" (early 14c.), from Old French mandé, from Latin mandatum "commandment" (see mandate (n.)); said to be so called in reference to the opening words of the Latin church service for this day, Mandatum novum do vobis "A new commandment I give unto you" (John xiii:34), words supposedly spoken by Jesus to the Apostles after washing their feet at the Last Supper.
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c. 1500, "a command, a judicial or legal order," from French mandat (15c.) and directly from Latin mandatum "commission, command, order," noun use of neuter past participle of mandare "to order, commit to one's charge," literally "to give into one's hand," probably from manus "hand" (from PIE root *man- (2) "hand") + dare "to give" (from PIE root *do- "to give").
Political sense of "approval supposedly conferred by voters to the policies or slogans advocated by winners of an election" is from 1796. League of Nations sense "commission issued by the League authorizing a selected power to administer and develop a territory for a specified purpose" (also used of the territory so specified) is from 1919.
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updated on December 06, 2018
