emissary

What it means

1. An agent sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else.

   The small group around Ch’en Tu-hsiu that had remained at headquarters hastily sent an emissary—Chang Kuo-t’ao—to Nanch’ang. Though Chang set out immediately, he did not reach Nanch’ang until July 31, the day before the rising.

   1958, Conrad Brandt, “A Defeat out of Victory and a Devil out of the Machine”, in Stalin's Failure in China, 1924–1927, number 31, Cambridge, Mass.: Russian Research Center, Harvard University Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 143

   1. Such an agent spreading a gospel.

      Near-synonym: missionary

      Synonyms: missionary

2. anatomyA venous channel in the skull.

In a sentence

The small group around Ch’en Tu-hsiu that had remained at headquarters hastily sent an emissary—Chang Kuo-t’ao—to Nanch’ang. Though Chang set out immediately, he did not reach Nanch’ang until July 31, the day before the rising.

1958, Conrad Brandt, “A Defeat out of Victory and a Devil out of the Machine”, in Stalin's Failure in China, 1924–1927, number 31, Cambridge, Mass.: Russian Research Center, Harvard University Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 143

Where it comes from

1. Latinemissarius“agent, scout, spy”
2. Frenchémissaire
3. Englishemissary

From French émissaire, from Latin emissarius (“agent, scout, spy”).