envoy
1 Americannoun
noun
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Formal name: envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an ambassador and a minister resident
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an accredited messenger, agent, or representative
noun
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a brief dedicatory or explanatory stanza concluding certain forms of poetry, notably ballades
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a postscript in other forms of verse or prose
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of envoy1
1635–45; < French envoyé envoy, noun use of past participle of envoyer to send < Vulgar Latin *inviāre, presumably originally to be on a journey, verbal derivative of Latin in viā on one's way, en route
Origin of envoy2
1350–1400; Middle English envoye < Old French, derivative of envoyer to send; see envoy 1
Explanation
An envoy is someone sent out as a messenger to represent another person or group, such as a country or business. The saying "Don't kill the messenger" could easily be "Don't kill the envoy," because an envoy is a messenger. The U.S. government has many envoys, as do other countries and many organizations and businesses. In government, an envoy has much less power than an ambassador. The word envoy is also used to describe a brief postscript in poetry or prose that explains or ties up the previous piece before “sending it to readers,” so that’s messenger-like too.
Vocabulary lists containing envoy
Poetry: Literary Devices
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This Week in Words: October 6 - 12, 2018
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This Week in Words: April 13–19, 2019
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His appointment as envoy to everywhere has shifted the paradigm, in plain sight.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
“The Houthis smell this, they know this,” said April Longley Alley, a former senior political adviser to the United Nations’ special envoy to Yemen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
World Liberty CEO Zach Witkoff, son of Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, took on the role of chairman at the payments company, then known as Alt5.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
But Peter Ricketts, the UK's Bayeux Tapestry envoy, remained coy about the exact date the "incredibly fragile object" would arrive from its home in northern France for a major exhibition at the British Museum.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
He derived that scant information by word of mouth, mainly from an envoy who had visited Pizarro’s force for two days while it was en route inland from the coast.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
