Word of the Day : August 28, 2017

emissary \EM-uh-sair-ee\ noun

Definition

1 : one designated as the agent of another : representative

2 : a secret agent

Examples

As the company's emissary to the meeting, Sarah was tasked with presenting the proposal that had been the focus of the team's work for several months.

"In recent years, emissaries of Belgium's soccer association have been invited around the planet to advise larger, richer nations on how to develop young players." — Rory Smith, The New York Times, 4 July 2017

Did You Know?

An emissary is often a person who is sent somewhere in order to act as a representative. The key word in that sentence is sent; emissary derives from Latin emissus, the past participle of the verb emittere, meaning "to send out." Emissary first appeared in print in English in the early 1600s, not too long after the arrival of another emittere descendant: 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.

Aired August 28, 2017

All Merriam-Webster content is available at www.merriam-webster.com