mandamus

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

mandamus

/mænˈdeɪməs/ UK

Where it comes from

From Latin mandāmus (“we command”).

noun mandamuses

countable, uncountable A common law prerogative writ that compels a court or government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties correctly. I admit to all my learned friends that a Mandamus does not issue where there is another course of proceeding by which the thing can be effected; but I again state to your Lordships, that if in this case a Mandamus must not issue, there is no other proceeding that can be adopted.

verb mandamuses · mandamusing · mandamused

transitive To serve a writ of this kind upon.

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"mandamus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mandamus. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

mandamus. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mandamus

Chicago

"mandamus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mandamus.

BibTeX

@misc{mandamus_2026,
  title = {mandamus},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mandamus},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}