emissary Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun someone sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else
envoy.

L. emissarius, fr. emittere, emissum, to send out: cf. F. émissaire. See Emit.

plural Emissaries

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.
Buzzing emissaries fill the ears Of listening crowds with jealousies and fears. Dryden.
Syn. -- Emissary, Spy. A spy is one who enters an enemy's camp or territories to learn the condition of the enemy; an emissary may be a secret agent appointed not only to detect the schemes of an opposing party, but to influence their councils. A spy must be concealed, or he suffers death; an emissary may in some cases be known as the agent of an adversary without incurring similar hazard.

Exploring; spying. B. Jonson.
(Anat.) Applied to the veins which pass out of the cranium through apertures in its walls.