Meanings
plural envoys
- lawA diplomatic agent of the second rank, next in status after an ambassador.
Synonyms: envoy extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary
- A representative.
special envoy to the United Nations
1 more example
In the year 1460 the king Tu-ma-pan (Tumapel?)† sent envoys to carry tribute. When these envoys went back, and had arrived at An-ch’ing,‡ they got drunk and had a fight with foreign priests who came to bring tribute, and of whom six were killed.
1887, W. P. Groeneveldt, “Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca”, in Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Indo-China and the Indian Archipelago, volume I, London: Trübner & Co., →OCLC, page 165 - A diplomat.
- A messenger.
- alternativecommunicationsAlternative spelling of envoi (“short stanza at end of poem”).
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA diplomatic agent of the second rank, next in status after an ambassador.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna diplomat having less authority than an ambassador
nounsomeone sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic مَبْعُوث, وَزِير مُفَوَّض
- مَبْعُوث (mabʕūṯ)representative
- وَزِير مُفَوَّض (wazīr mufawwaḍ)representative
- رَسُول (rasūl)representative
Bengali দূত
- দূত (dut)representative
Bulgarian посла́ник, пра́теник
- посла́ник (poslánik)representative
- пра́теник (prátenik)representative
Chinese Cantonese 使者
- 使者 (si³ ze² / si⁵ ze²)representative
Chinese Mandarin 使者
- 使者 (shǐzhě)representative
Czech vyslanec
- vyslanecrepresentative
Danish gesandt, udsending
- gesandtrepresentative
- udsendingrepresentative
- sendebudrepresentative
Dutch gezant
- gezantrepresentative
Estonian saadik
- saadikrepresentative
Finnish lähettiläs, edustaja
- lähettiläsdiplomatic agent of second rank
- edustajarepresentative
French envoyé, émissaire
- envoyérepresentative
- émissairerepresentative
German Gesandter, Gesandte
- Gesandterdiplomatic agent of second rank
- Gesandtediplomatic agent of second rank
- Gesandterrepresentative
- Gesandterepresentative
Greek αντιπρόσωπος
- αντιπρόσωπος (antiprósopos)representative
Hebrew שַׁגְרִיר
- שַׁגְרִיר (shagrír)representative
Hindi दूत
- दूत (dūt)representative
Hungarian követ, követ
- követdiplomatic agent of second rank
- követrepresentative
Icelandic sendimaður
- sendimaðurrepresentative
Indonesian duta, utusan
- dutarepresentative
- utusanrepresentative
Irish toscaire
- toscairerepresentative
Italian inviato, inviata
- inviatorepresentative
- inviatarepresentative
Japanese 使者
- 使者 (sisha)representative
Korean 사자
- 사자 (saja)representative
Latin lēgātus
- lēgātusrepresentative
Latvian sūtnis
- sūtnisrepresentative
Lithuanian pasiuntinys
- pasiuntinysrepresentative
Malay duta
- dutarepresentative
Māori karere
- karererepresentative
Norwegian Bokmål sendebud, sendemann
- sendebudrepresentative
- sendemannrepresentative
Polish wysłannik
- wysłannikrepresentative
Portuguese enviado
- enviadorepresentative
Romanian trimis, sol
- trimisrepresentative
- solrepresentative
Russian посла́нник, посла́нец
- посла́нник (poslánnik)representative
- посла́нец (poslánec)representative
Slovak vyslanec
- vyslanecrepresentative
Spanish enviado
- enviadorepresentative
Swahili mjumbe
- mjumberepresentative
Swedish sändebud, envoyé
- sändebuddiplomatic agent of second rank
- envoyérepresentative
- sändebudrepresentative
Tagalog legado, sugo
- legadorepresentative
- sugorepresentative
Thai รัฐทูต, ทูต
- รัฐทูต (rát-tà-tûut)diplomatic agent of second rank
- ทูต (tûut)representative
Turkish elçi, elçi
- elçidiplomatic agent of second rank
- elçirepresentative
Ukrainian посла́нник
- посла́нник (poslánnyk)representative
Urdu ایلْچی, دُوت
- ایلْچی (elcī)representative
- دُوت (dūt)representative
Vietnamese phái viên, công sứ
- phái viênrepresentative
- công sứrepresentative
- sứ giảrepresentative
Cite this entry
envoy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/envoy
“envoy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/envoy. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “envoy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/envoy.
Source: envoy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.