emissary

noun

em·​is·​sary ˈe-mə-ˌser-ē How to pronounce emissary (audio)
-ˌse-rē
plural emissaries
1
: one designated as the agent of another : representative
2
: a secret agent

Did you know?

An emissary is often a person who is sent somewhere in order to act as a representative. The key in that sentence is sent; emissary derives from Latin emissus, the past participle of the verb emittere, meaning "to send out."  By the early 17th century, it was a commonly seen and heard word. An earlier common emittere descendant is emit. In addition, emittere itself comes from Latin mittere ("to send"), which is an ancestor of many English words, including admit, commit, mission, omit, permit, premise, promise, and submit.

Did you know?

Like missionaries, emissaries are sent on missions. However, emissaries are more likely to be representing governments, political leaders, and nonreligious institutions, and an emissary's mission is usually to negotiate or to gather information. So a president may send a trusted emissary to a war-torn region to discuss peace terms. A company's CEO may send an emissary to check out another company that they may be thinking of buying. And a politician may send out an emissary to persuade a wealthy individual to become a supporter.

Examples of emissary in a Sentence

She acted as the president's personal emissary to the union leaders. most of the industrialized nations of the world sent emissaries to the conference on global warming
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Qin Fu is supposed to be meeting an emissary of China’s Empress Dowager on arrival, sent to catch a gang of political fugitives, but Holmes encourages his new protégé to assume his identity – apparently their names sound similar in Chinese – and investigate the Chinatown murders on his behalf. James Marsh, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025 What does this mean for the ubiquitous AI emissary, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang, who wasn’t at the press conference? R. Scott Raynovich, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025 They are communicated publicly in pronouncements by senior officials and privately by emissaries. Brett Murphy, ProPublica, 15 Jan. 2025 The security droids continue to buy Jod's lies about being a Jedi emissary, as lightsabers are a rare thing and, as far as everyone on the planet knows, the Order is still alive and well. Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for emissary 

Word History

Etymology

Latin emissarius, from emissus, past participle of emittere

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of emissary was in 1607

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Cite this Entry

“Emissary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emissary. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

emissary

noun
em·​is·​sary ˈem-ə-ˌser-ē How to pronounce emissary (audio)
plural emissaries
: a person sent on a mission to represent another

Legal Definition

emissary

noun
em·​is·​sary ˈe-mə-ˌser-ē How to pronounce emissary (audio)
plural emissaries
: a representative usually empowered to act more or less independently (as in collecting or conveying information or in negotiating)

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