Em-băs'sa-dor or Am-băs'sa-dor, n.

n. [Fr. embassadeur, ambassadeur, It. ambasciadore, Sp. & Pg. embaxador, Norm. Fr. ambaxeur, L. Lat. ambassiator, ambasciator, ambaxiator; Goth. and-bahts, servant, messenger, Lat. ambactus, vassal, a dependent upon a lord, among the Gauls. [See infra, and cf. AMBASSADOR.] One who is authorized to represent or act for another in the fullest manner possible; especially, a minister of the highest rank sent by one sovereign to another, as the personal representative of the appointing power, and intrusted with the management of public matters between the two sovereigns.

Ambassadors are called ordinary when they reside permanently at a foreign court, and extraordinary when they are sent on a special occasion.