messenger

[mes-uhn-jer]

noun

1. a person who carries a message or goes on an errand for another, especially as a matter of duty or business.

   Synonyms: courier, bearer

2. a person employed to convey official dispatches or to go on other official or special errands.

   a bank messenger.

3. Nautical.

   1. a rope or chain made into an endless belt to pull on an anchor cable or to drive machinery from some power source, as a capstan or winch.

   2. a light line by which a heavier line, as a hawser, can be pulled across a gap between a ship and a pier, a buoy, another ship, etc.

4. Oceanography.,  a brass weight sent down a line to actuate a Nansen bottle or other oceanographic instrument.

5. Archaic.,  a herald, forerunner, or harbinger.

verb (used with object)

1. to send by messenger.

messenger

/ ˈmɛsɪndʒə /

noun

1. a person who takes messages from one person or group to another or others

2. a person who runs errands or is employed to run errands

3. a carrier of official dispatches; courier

4. nautical

   1. a light line used to haul in a heavy rope

   2. an endless belt of chain, rope, or cable, used on a powered winch to take off power

5. archaic,  a herald

Word History and Origins

Origin of messenger¹

1175–1225; Middle English messager, messangere < Anglo-French; Old French messagier. See message, -er ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of messenger¹

C13: from Old French messagier, from _message

Example Sentences

There have been multiple other cases using people recruited via the Telegram messenger app, using accounts that Poland believes are run by Russian intelligence.

Read more on BBC

These small molecules act as chemical messengers, circulating through the body and influencing metabolism, immunity, and even brain function.

Read more on Science Daily

“Everyone has the responsibility to speak up against the scourge of antisemitism, no matter the messenger. Heritage and I will do so, even when my friend Tucker Carlson needs challenging,” he said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But is it really possible to train your mighty internal messenger, and could that actually bring quick relief to life's stresses?

Read more on BBC

If the double-stranded DNA contains the body’s master plan, the single-stranded RNA is the messenger, telling the cell’s protein factories how to build the three-dimensional shapes that make the whole.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• courier 
• emissary 
• go-between 
• mediator 
• prophet