ambassador

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am·bas·sa·dor

(ăm-băs′ə-dər, -dôr′)

1. A diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another, usually for a specific length of time.

2. A diplomatic official heading his or her country's permanent mission to certain international organizations, such as the United Nations.

3. An authorized messenger or representative.

4. An unofficial representative: ambassadors of goodwill.

[Middle English ambassadour, from Old French ambassadeur, from Medieval Latin ambactia, mission, from Latin ambactus, servant, ultimately of Celtic origin; see ag- in Indo-European roots.]

am·bas′sa·do′ri·al (-dôr′ē-əl) adj.

am·bas′sa·dor·ship′ n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ambassador

(æmˈbæsədə)

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) short for ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary; a diplomatic minister of the highest rank, accredited as permanent representative to another country or sovereign

2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) ambassador extraordinary a diplomatic minister of the highest rank sent on a special mission

3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) ambassador plenipotentiary a diplomatic minister of the first rank with treaty-signing powers

4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) ambassador-at-large US an ambassador with special duties who may be sent to more than one government

5. an authorized representative or messenger

[C14: from Old French ambassadeur, from Italian ambasciator, from Old Provençal ambaisador, from ambaisa (unattested) mission, errand; see embassy]

amˈbassadress fem n

ambassadorial adj

amˈbassadorˌship n

Usage: The gender-neutral form is ambassador

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

am•bas•sa•dor

(æmˈbæs ə dər, -ˌdɔr)

n.

1. a diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative (ambas′sador extraor′dinary and plenipoten′tiary), or sent on a special or temporary mission.

2. a diplomatic official serving as permanent head of a country's mission to the United Nations or some other international organization.

3. an authorized messenger or representative.

[1325–75; Middle English am-, embass(i)adour < Anglo-French ambassateur, ambassaduer < Italian ambassatore]

am•bas`sa•do′ri•al (-ˈdɔr i əl, -ˈdoʊr-) adj.

am•bas′sa•dor•ship`, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	ambassador - a diplomat of the highest rank; accredited as representative from one country to another embassador ambassadress - a woman ambassador diplomat, diplomatist - an official engaged in international negotiations
	2.	ambassador - an informal representative; "an ambassador of good will" spokesperson, representative, interpreter, voice - an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose; "the meeting was attended by spokespersons for all the major organs of government"

ambassador

noun representative, minister, agent, deputy, diplomat, envoy, consul, attaché, emissary, legate, plenipotentiary the German ambassador to Poland

Quotations
"An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the commonwealth" [Henry Wotton]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

سَفِيرسفراءسفير

velvyslanec

ambassadør

BotschafterAmbassadeur

πρέσβης

embajador

lähettiläs

ambassadeur ambassadrice

veleposlanikveleposlanica

nagykövet

sendiherra

ambasciatore ambasciatrice

大使

대사

legatus

ambasadoriausambasadorius

vēstnieks

veľvyslanec

veleposlanikambasador

ambassadör

เอกอัครราชฑูต

elçi büyükelçi

đại sứ

大使

ambassador

[æmˈbæsədəʳ] N → embajador(a) m/f (fig) → embajador(a) m/f, representante mf (for de) the Spanish ambassador → el embajador de España

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ambassador

[æmˈbæsədə^r] n

(lit) [country] → ambassadeur/drice m/f
the French ambassador → l'ambassadeur/drice m/f de France
the French ambassador to Russia → l'ambassadeur/drice m/f de France en Russie

(fig) (= representative) → ambassadeur/drice m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ambassador

n → Botschafter(in) m(f); (fig) → Repräsentant(in) m(f), → Vertreter(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ambassador

[æmˈbæsədəʳ] n → ambasciatore/trice

ambassador

(amˈbӕsədə) – feminine amˈbassadress – noun

the government minister appointed to act for his government in another country. the British Ambassador to Italy.

amˌbassaˈdorial (-ˈdoː-) adjective

ambassador

→ سَفِير velvyslanec ambassadør Botschafter πρέσβης embajador lähettiläs ambassadeur veleposlanik ambasciatore 大使 대사 ambassadeur ambassadør ambasador embaixador посол ambassadör เอกอัครราชฑูต büyükelçi đại sứ 大使

References in classic literature ?

Chairs were set with the aid of footmen, moving almost imperceptibly about the room; the party settled itself, divided into two groups: one round the samovar near the hostess, the other at the opposite end of the drawing room, round the handsome wife of an ambassador, in black velvet, with sharply defined black eyebrows.

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"But what have I to do with the Ambassador, or with diplomatic matters of any sort?" he protested.

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Robert Blaine-Harvey, American Ambassador and Plenipotentiary Extraordinary to England, was a man of great culture, surprising personal gifts, and with a diplomatic instinct which amounted almost to genius.

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The American Ambassador, General Horace Porter, presided at the banquet.

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Do you remember dining with me one night at the Ambassador's?

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"It is remarkable that the king of England should choose a Frenchman for his ambassador; it is an excellent augury.

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Prince Vasili's daughter, the beautiful Helene, came to take her father to the ambassador's entertainment; she wore a ball dress and her badge as maid of honor.

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Raoul de Coude made hurried excuses to his host after he had read the note handed him by the ambassador's butler.

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Therefore these laws and customs, which be so far different from all other nations, how divers fancies also and minds they do cause, did I never so plainly perceive, as in the Ambassadors of the Anemolians.

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Ambassadors arrive from the emperor of Blefuscu, and sue for peace.

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THE SECOND class of powers, lodged in the general government, consists of those which regulate the intercourse with foreign nations, to wit: to make treaties; to send and receive ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations; to regulate foreign commerce, including a power to prohibit, after the year 1808, the importation of slaves, and to lay an intermediate duty of ten dollars per head, as a discouragement to such importations.

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The only remaining powers of the Executive are comprehended in giving information to Congress of the state of the Union; in recommending to their consideration such measures as he shall judge expedient; in convening them, or either branch, upon extraordinary occasions; in adjourning them when they cannot themselves agree upon the time of adjournment; in receiving ambassadors and other public ministers; in faithfully executing the laws; and in commissioning all the officers of the United States.