emissary
UK /ˈɛmɪs(ə)ɹi/ · US /ˈɛmɪˌsɛɹi/ noun
Forms emissaries
- noun An agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else.
- noun Such an agent spreading a gospel.
- noun (anatomy) A venous channel in the skull.
- noun An underground channel by which the water of a lake escapes.
Synonyms
Etymology
From French émissaire, from Latin emissarius (“agent, scout, spy”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun An agent employed to advance, in a covert manner, the interests of his employers; one sent out by any power that is at war with another, to create dissatisfaction among the people of the latter.
- adjective Exploring; spying. B. Jonson.
- adjective Applied to the veins which pass out of the cranium through apertures in its walls.
Etymology [L. emissarius, fr. emittere, emissum, to send out: cf. F. émissaire. See Emit.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “emissary”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details