The word "legate" comes from the Latin legare ("to send"). It has several meanings, all related to representatives:

• A legate is a member of a diplomatic embassy.
• In ancient Rome, a legatus or legate was an official assistant to a general or governor of a province.
• A papal legate is a messenger from the Holy See to a nation. The highest rank of papal legate is legate a latere, who had to be in the rank of a cardinal.
• In the Star Trek universe, a Legate is a rank in the Cardassian military, approximately equivalent to an Admiral.