| n. | 1. | One dispatched upon an errand or mission; a messenger; esp., a person deputed by a sovereign or a government to negotiate a treaty, or transact other business, with a foreign sovereign or government; a minister accredited to a foreign government. An envoy's rank is below that of an ambassador. |
| 2. | An explanatory or commendatory postscript to a poem, essay, or book; - also in the French from, l'envoi. |
| Noun | 1. | envoy - a diplomat having less authority than an ambassador Synonyms: envoy extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary |
| 2. | envoy - someone sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else Synonyms: emissary | |
| 3. | envoy - a brief stanza concluding certain forms of poetry Synonyms: envoi |
ENVOY, international law. In diplomatic language, an envoy is a minister of
the second rank, on whom his sovereign or government has conferred a degree
of dignity and respectability, which, without being on a level with an
ambassador, immediately follows, and among ministers, yields the preeminence
to him alone.
2. Envoys are either ordinary or extraordinary; by custom the latter is
held in greater consideration. Vattel, liv. 4, c. 6, Sec. 72.