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emissary

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Etymology and origin of the English word emissary

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɛmɪs(ə)ɹi/[1]
  • US: /ˈɛmɪˌsɛɹi/[1]

emissary1 outlet

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1601 P. Holland's translation of Pliny
Borrowed from
Latin emissarium
Ultimate origin
Latin ēmittō

Etymology

The word for an outlet is borrowed from Latin ēmissārium (“an outlet”), formed from the stem of ēmissus with the suffix -ārium.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An outlet or channel, chiefly of a lake or reservoir: 1601, in P. Holland's translation of Pliny.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From 1657 the word was also used in physiology for a canal through which a fluid passes out of the body, a sense last recorded in 1732.[2][3] Johnson (1755) gave this technical sense as "one that emits or sends out", with an example from Arbuthnot on emissaries and absorbent vessels in the skin.[4] The OED marks the outlet sense obsolete except in Roman history,[2][3] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged lists it as archaic.[5]

Timeline

  • 1601 – an outlet or channel, chiefly of a lake.[2][3]
  • 1657 – in physiology, a duct by which a fluid passes out (obsolete by 1732).[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic) An outlet or channel, especially of a lake, now only in the history of ancient Rome.[5][2][3]
  2. (obsolete, 1657–1732) A duct of the body.[2][3]

emissary2 agent sent on a mission

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1625 Ben Jonson, The Staple of News
Borrowed from
Latin emissarius
Ultimate origin
Latin ēmittō

Etymology

The word for an agent sent on a mission is borrowed from Latin ēmissārius (“sent out; one sent out, a scout, spy”),[2][6][7][8][9] probably through French émissaire, recorded in French in the 17th century.[10][6] The Latin word is formed from ēmissus, the past participle of ēmittō (“to send out”), the source of emit, with the suffix -ārius, English -ary.[2][10][11][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person sent on a mission: Barnhart dates it to 1625, when Ben Jonson used it in The Staple of News as the title of the men who gathered the news;[10] the OED quotes the play from its 1631 printing.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives 1607 as the first date,[5] Dictionary.com 1595–1605[12] and Etymonline the 1620s.[6]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word already meant a scout or spy,[6][9][8] and the English word was at first usually derogatory:[3] it named someone sent to gather information or win adherents for a cause,[2] and after 1663 also simply a spy.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "one sent out on private messages; a spy; a secret agent", with examples from Bacon and Swift.[4] The neutral modern sense of an envoy or representative, especially of a government or head of state, is the main one in current dictionaries.[5][13] The adjective, "sent forth", appears in the 17th century,[2] and in anatomy it has described, since 1828, small vessels branching from a main trunk,[2] especially the emissary veins that connect the venous sinuses of the dura mater with veins outside the skull.[5][13]

Timeline

  • 1625 – a person sent on a mission, in Ben Jonson's The Staple of News.[10] The OED cites the 1631 printing of the play.[2]
  • before 1637 – attributive use, in Jonson's Underwoods (obsolete).[2][4]
  • 1659 – adjective, emitted as an emanation (obsolete).[2]
  • 1663 – a spy.[2] The 1989 edition of the OED dated this sense 1676.[14]
  • 1685 – adjective, sent forth on a mission (obsolete).[2]
  • 1828 – adjective, in anatomy, of small vessels branching out.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An agent or representative sent on a mission, especially to negotiate, to gather or carry information, or to represent a government: The president sent an emissary to the rebel leaders.[5][13]
  2. A spy or secret agent.[5][13][2]

Adjective

  1. (anatomy) Of certain veins, passing through openings in the skull to connect the venous sinuses of the dura mater with veins outside it.[5][13]
  2. (obsolete) Relating to or acting as an emissary.[5][2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  13. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  14. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Emissary.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/emissary. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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