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/ˈɛməsˌɛri/ Listen

noun

Emissary n. (pl. 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."

Synonyms: 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.

adjective

Emissary adj.

Exploring; spying.

(Anat.) Applied to the veins which pass out of the cranium through apertures in its walls.

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Etymology of 'Emissary'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Emissary" Quotes from Famous Books

... course, historic—Offa seeming most anxious to ally himself with the great Continental monarch, if only in name. The position of the hero as an honoured and independent guest at the hall of Offa would certainly be that assigned to an emissary from Carl. ...

— A King's Comrade - A Story of Old Hereford • Charles Whistler

... election campaign, some of the main facts connected with Mr. Bidwell's migration from Massachusetts to Upper Canada had become known to his opponents. The pretext afforded by these disclosures was too good to be neglected. An emissary was despatched to Berkshire County, where there was no difficulty in ascertaining that he had been Treasurer of the municipality; that he had been indicted for misapplying public funds; that a warrant had ...

— The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion, Volume 1 • John Charles Dent

... in the ensuing debates on this topic. Some members emphasized their loyalty by adverting tartly to the connections of Thomas Paine and English reformers with the French Jacobins. On 31st May the Duke of Richmond charged that writer with being an emissary from abroad, because he had advised the destruction of the British navy.[74] There is no such passage in the "Rights of Man"; and the Duke must have read with the distorting lens of fear or hatred the suggestion that, if ...

— William Pitt and the Great War • John Holland Rose

... man, Julian Orden," he said, "and a decent emissary. You will reply that we take the twenty-four hours for reflection. That means that we shall meet at nine o'clock ...

— The Devil's Paw • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... that they had overcome all obstacles, and were preparing to take possession of the city, when, to their great astonishment, they saw the flag of the Emperor Alexius flying from the battlements. An emissary of the emperor, named Faticius or Tatin, had contrived to gain admission, with a body of Greek troops, at a point which the Crusaders had left unprotected, and had persuaded the Turks to surrender to him rather than to the crusading forces. The greatest indignation prevailed ...

— Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds • Charles Mackay

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