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nuncio

[nuhn-shee-oh, -see-oh, noo n-]
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noun, plural nun·ci·os.
  1. a diplomatic representative of the pope at a foreign court or capital: equal in status to an ambassador.
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Compare apostolic delegate.

Origin of nuncio

1520–30; < Italian nuncio, nunzio < Latin nūncius, nūntius messenger
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for nuncio

pontiff, diplomat, emissary, delegate, representative, minister, ambassador, deputy, envoy, agent, nuncio, pontifical, see, legate, popery, vicegerent, papacy, vatican, vicar, medium

Examples from the Web for nuncio

Historical Examples of nuncio

  • The King was in a fury, and forebade the Nuncio to pass Lyons.

    The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, Complete

    Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz

  • There is some intention, I understand, of naming me as the Nuncio at Florence.

  • In this conclusion, however, the nuncio was but partially correct.

  • No one, except the friends of the nuncio, was pleased with the sermon.

  • The Nuncio was sometimes represented by his auditor, the Patriarch by his vicar.

    Giordano Bruno

    James Lewis McIntyre

British Dictionary definitions for nuncio

nuncio

noun plural -cios
  1. RC Church a diplomatic representative of the Holy See, ranking above an internuncio and esp having ambassadorial status
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Word Origin for nuncio

C16: via Italian from Latin nuntius messenger
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nuncio

n.

papal envoy, 1520s, from older Italian nuncio (now nunzio), from Latin nuntius "messenger," from PIE root *neu- "to shout" (cf. Greek neuo "to nod, beckon," Old Irish noid "make known").

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper