mandante

instigator

noun mahn-DAHN-teh Rare

Also means

principal (in crime)

Usage Note

Mandante is a legal term for the person who orders or commissions a crime, as opposed to the esecutore (the one who carries it out). It is masculine in form but epicene — il mandante, la mandante — and appears frequently in crime reporting and court proceedings.

Examples

"La polizia cerca ancora il mandante dell'omicidio."

Natural Translation

The police are still looking for the instigator of the murder.

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