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Webster 1913 Edition


Envoy

En′voy

,
Noun.
[F.
envoyé
envoy, fr.
envoyer
to send; pref.
en-
(L.
in
) +
voie
way, L.
via
: cf. F.
envoi
an envoy (in sense 2). See
Voyage
, and cf.
Invoice
.]
1.
One dispatched upon an errand or mission; a messenger; esp., a person deputed by a sovereign or a government to negotiate a treaty, or transact other business, with a foreign sovereign or government; a minister accredited to a foreign government. An envoy’s rank is below that of an ambassador.
2.
[F.
envoi
, fr.
envoyer
to send.]
An explanatory or commendatory postscript to a poem, essay, or book; – also in the French from, l'envoi.
The
envoy
of a ballad is the “sending” of it forth.
Skeat.

Webster 1828 Edition


Envoy

EN'VOY

,
Noun.
[L. via; Eng. way, contracted from viag, vag, or wag.]
1.
A person deputed by a prince or government, to negotiate a treaty, or transact other business, with a foreign prince or government. We usually apply the word to a public minister sent on a special occasion, or for one particular purpose; hence an envoy is distinguished from an embassador or permanent resident at a foreign court, and is of inferior rank. But envoys are ordinary and extraordinary, and the word may sometimes be applied to resident ministers.
2.
A common messenger. [Not in use.]
3.
Formerly, a postscript sent with compositions, to enforce them.

Definition 2024


envoy

envoy

English

Noun

envoy (plural envoys)

  1. (law) a diplomatic agent of the second rank, next in status after an ambassador.
  2. a representative.
  3. a diplomat.
  4. a messenger.
  5. a short stanza at the end of a poem.

Synonyms

  • (diplomatic agent of second rank): envoy extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary

Translations