Emissaries, in laymen terms, are errand boys. They run errands for someone else. For example, a nation’s emissary is one who is carrying out diplomatic tasks in another country. A lover’s emissary is one who carries one’s message across to one’s lover.
The dictionary definitions for abject are as follows:
1. A representative sent on a mission or errand: emissaries to negotiate a peace.
2. An agent sent on a mission of a secret nature, as a spy.
3. Anatomy: Sending or coming out, as certain veins that pass through the skull and connect the venous sinuses inside with the veins outside.
4. Pertaining to an emissary.
Masters Tip for Emissary:
Difference between a scout, spy and emissary: Usage difference
A scout, in military terms, is a person who shadows the outskirts of the hostile army and collects information. A spy, on the other hand, enters the enemy’s lines. In terms of rights, the scout has the rights of prisoner of war in case he is captured whereas a spy has no such rights. Emissaries, on the other hand, are of political nature and are sent for political negotiations and maneuvers.
Usage Examples for Emissary:
1. ” We were received by the Duc de Levis and the Comtesse de Chavannes; there was also a Prince Somebody, and an emissary from the Pope waiting for an audience.” — The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton
2. “Her royal choice was yet unknown to the public; and the promise which would have betrayed her falsehood and levity, was stolen by a dexterous emissary from the ambition of the patriarch.” — The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire