Word of the Day ： October 25, 2020
emissary
特使；密使
nounEM-uh-sair-ee
Definition
1 ： one designated as the agent of another ： representative
被指定為某人的代理人：代表
2 ： a secret agent
秘密特工
Examples
"America has a long tradition of deploying political emissaries. They can have the authority of a direct line to the president." — The Economist, 13 Aug. 2020
「美國有著部署政治世界的悠久傳統。他們可以直接與總統保持聯繫。
"He had founded that fellowship of the Black Arrow, as a ruined man longing for vengeance and money; and yet among those who knew him best, he was thought to be the agent and emissary of the great King-maker of England, Richard, Earl of Warwick." — Robert Louis Stevenson, The Black Arrow, 1888
他建立了「黑箭」團隊，他是一個渴望復仇和賺錢的殘酷人。 但在最了解他的人中，他被認為是英格蘭偉大的國王理察·沃裡克伯爵的代理或使者。」
Did You Know?
An emissary is often a person who is sent somewhere in order to act as a representative. The key in that sentence is sent; emissary derives from Latin emissus, the past participle of the verb emittere, meaning "to send out." By the early 17th century, it was a commonly seen and heard word. An earlier common emittere descendant is emit. In addition, emittere itself comes from Latin mittere ("to send"), which is an ancestor of many English words, including admit, commit, mission, omit, permit, premise, promise, and submit.
An emissary「使者」通常是作為代表而被派往某個地方的人。該句子中的密鑰已發送； emissary源自拉丁語emissus，即動詞 emittere 的過去分詞，意思是「to sent out「發出」」。到17世紀初，它是一個常見的單詞。較早常見的 emittere 的衍生詞 emit「發射」。另外，emittere 本身來自拉丁語mittere（「to send「發送到」」），它是許多英語單詞的起源，包括admit「承認」，commit「承諾」，mission「使命」，omit「省略」，permit「許可」，premise「前提」，promise「承諾」和submit「提交」。
Word Family Quiz
What relative of Latin mittere begins with "s" and refers to a thought or idea based on scanty evidence?