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

"Other services run by MediaLab remain available in the UK – such as Kik messenger, which has implemented age assurance to comply with the Online Safety Act."

From BBC

The timing coincides with the rollout of a new "national messenger" app known as Max and created by a Russian firm closely controlled by the Kremlin.

From BBC

Using messenger RNA as an intermediary in their actions, the vaccines instruct the body how to manufacture parts of a pathogen that its immune system can recognize and fight.

From Los Angeles Times

In a statement on Monday, Qudah said, “Israel is murdering the messengers.”

From Los Angeles Times

Then the gunman emerged — a messenger, Hamill wrote, “from the secret filthy heart of America.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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