Dictionary

emissary en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɛmɪs(ə)ɹi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɛmɪˌsɛɹi/ (US)

Etymology

From French émissaire, from Latin emissarius (“agent, scout, spy”).

Meanings

1. An agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else.
   • The small group around Ch’en Tu-hsiu that had remained at headquarters hastily sent an emissary—Chang Kuo-t’ao—to Nanch’ang. Though Chang set out immediately, he did not reach Nanch’ang until July 31, the day before the rising. 1958, Conrad Brandt, “A Defeat out of Victory and a Devil out of the Machine”, in Stalin's Failure in China, 1924–1927, number 31, Cambridge, Mass.: Russian Research Center, Harvard University Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 143:
2. An agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else. ▸ Such an agent spreading a gospel.
   • Near-synonym: missionary
3. A venous channel in the skull.
4. An underground channel by which the water of a lake escapes.

Forms

Deriveds

emissaryship · emissarial · emissary vein

Hyponyms

interpreter

Relateds

missionary · emit · emission

Synonyms

missionary

Translations (45)

nb sendebud (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · mk пратеничка (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · fi lähettiläs (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · de Emissär (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · da udsending (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · bg пра́теник (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · pl emisariuszka (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · pl emisariusz (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · ru эмисса́р (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · la emissarius (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · uk еміса́рка (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · fr émissaire (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · da sendebud (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · bg емиса́р (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · sv emissarie (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · mk пратеник (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · sk emisár (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · es emisario (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · bg пра́теница (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · sv sändebud (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · ota رسول (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · ru посла́нница (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · ko 사자 (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · eo sendito (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · el εκφορητικός πόρος (a venous channel in the skull) · cs emisar (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · ja 使者 (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · nl afgezant (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · de Emissärin (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · ar مَبْعُوث (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · de Abgesandter (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · bg пра́теничка (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · uk еміса́р (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · be эміса́рка (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · cmn 使者 (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · cs emisař (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · el αγγελιοφόρος (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · cmn 伻 (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · egy wp:p-w-t:y-D54-A1 (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · pt emissário (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · ru посла́нник (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · bg емиса́рка (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · es emisaria (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · el απεσταλμένος (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else) · be эміса́р (an agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else)