ambassador
Pluralambassadors
- 1A diplomat of the highest rank sent to represent their country or its government in a foreign nation.
The ambassador met with foreign ministers to ease tensions between the two governments.
Several ambassadors gathered at the palace for the formal reception.
Note
The title began low. Through Old Occitan ambaissa, "service, mission, errand", it goes back to a Gaulish word for a servant, so the highest rank in diplomacy still carries a servant's name. In the order of precedence an ambassador outranks ministers and chargés d'affaires. The title usually takes a nationality in front of it, as in the English ambassador, and it is capitalized only as part of a formal title.
- 2A representative of a company, often serving as its public face.
The fashion label named her its global ambassador for the new campaign.
Corporate ambassadors often share product news on their social media accounts.
Similarrepresentative, spokesperson
Note
A figurative stretch of the diplomatic title, and it need not mean a celebrity spokesperson. A front hall porter can be told he is an ambassador for the hotel, because whoever meets the public stands for the business. The usual construction is ambassador for plus the organization, or a possessive such as the brand's ambassador.
- 3An official messenger who is also sent to represent a person or group on their behalf.
The council appointed an ambassador to relay its demands to the neighboring city.
Ambassadors traveled between the warring camps carrying messages of truce.
Similarenvoy, emissary, messenger, representative
Note
The broader role behind the top diplomatic rank: someone sent officially to carry a message and to speak for the sender. Here the weight falls on the errand rather than on rank. Mrs. William Busk's Mediæval Popes, Emperors, Kings, and Crusaders (1856) spells it embassador, a variant that makes the family tie to embassy easy to see.
- 4A player who serves as an excellent role model, upholds the integrity of the game, and helps grow the sport's popularity.
The league honored him as an ambassador for fair play and sportsmanship.
Veteran ambassadors of the sport visit schools to inspire young players.
Note
Sport uses the title as a compliment. The player is said to represent the game itself, and the praise rests on conduct and character, not on talent. A gifted player who flouts the spirit of the rules does not earn it. The set phrase is ambassador for the game or ambassador for the sport.
Practice
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Origin
The word came into Middle English as ambassadore through Anglo-Norman and Old Italian, from Old Occitan ambaisador, a derivative of ambaissa ('service, mission, errand'). It traces back through Proto-Germanic *ambahtaz ('servant') and Gaulish and Proto-Celtic roots to a Proto-Indo-European sense of 'drive around'. It displaced the native Old English word ǣrendraca.