ambassador

See also: ambassadör

English

Alternative forms

ambassadour (obsolete)
embassador (archaic)
embassadour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English ambassadore, from Anglo-Norman ambassadeur, from Old Italian ambassadore, from Old Occitan ambaisador (“ambassador”), derivative of ambaissa (“service, mission, errand”), from Medieval Latin ambasiator, from Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌱𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌹 (andbahti, “service, function”), from Proto-Germanic *ambahtiją (“service, office”), derivative of Proto-Germanic *ambahtaz (“servant”), from Gaulish ambaxtos, from Proto-Celtic *ambaxtos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi-h₂eǵ- (“drive around”), from *h₂m̥bʰi- (“around”) + *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”).

Displaced native Old English ǣrendraca.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /æmˈbæs.ə.də(ɹ)/
Audio (UK) (file)
(US) IPA^(key): /æmˈbæs.ə.dɚ/, /æmˈbæs.əˌdɔɹ/

Noun

ambassador (plural ambassadors)

A minister of the highest rank sent to a foreign court to represent there his sovereign or country. (Sometimes called ambassador-in-residence)
- 1982, Orville T. Murphy, Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes: French Diplomacy in the Age of Revolution, 1719-1787:
  Vergenne'fury reached its height when the priest tried to involve the English ambassador.
An official messenger and representative.
- 1856, Mrs. William Busk, Mediæval Popes, Emperors, Kings, and Crusaders: Or, Germany, Italy and Palestine, from A.D. 1125 to A.D. 1268‎, volume IV, London: Hookham and Sons, OCLC 2480341, page 294:
  The new accusation brought by Urban against Manfred of murdering his sister-in-law's embassador – it may be observed that, tacitly, he acquits him of parricide, fratricide, and nepoticide – requires a little explanation.
A corporate representative, often the public face of the company.
As front hall porter, you are an ambassador for the hotel.

Usage notes

In English the preferred construction is (Nationality) ambassador to (Country) (the French ambassador to the United States) or ambassador of (Sending Country) to (Receiving Country) (the ambassador of France to the United States).

Derived terms

amb.
ambassador-at-large
ambassadorial
ambassadorless
ambassadorship
ambassadress
ambassadry
glambassador
goodwill ambassador

Related terms

embassy

Translations

minister

Afrikaans: ambassadeur
Arabic: سَفِير‎ m (safīr), سَفِيرَة‎ f (safīra)
Egyptian Arabic: سفير‎ m (safīr)
Armenian: դեսպան (hy) (despan)
Asturian: embaxador m, embaxadora f
Bulgarian: пра́теник (bg) m (prátenik), пра́теница f (prátenica)
Catalan: ambaixador (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 大使 (zh) (dàshǐ)
Coptic: ⲡⲣⲉⲥⲃⲉⲩⲧⲏⲥ m (presbeutēs)
Czech: velvyslanec (cs) m
Danish: ambassadør (da) c
Dutch: ambassadeur (nl) m
Finnish: suurlähettiläs (fi)
French: ambassadeur (fr) m, ambassadrice (fr) f
Galician: embaixador m, embaixadora f
German: Botschafter (de) m
Greek: πρέσβης (el) m (présvis)
Ancient: πρεσβεύς m (presbeús), πρεσβευτής m (presbeutḗs)
Gujarati: રાજદૂત (rājdūt)
Hebrew: שַׁגְרִיר‎ (he) m (shagrír), שגרירה‎ f (shagrira)
Hindi: दूत (hi) m (dūt), राजदूत (hi) m (rājdūt)
Hungarian: nagykövet (hu)
Icelandic: sendiherra m, (dated) ambassadör
Indonesian: duta (id)
Irish: ambasadóir m
Italian: ambasciatore (it) m, ambasciatrice (it) f
Japanese: 大使 (ja) (たいし, taishi)
Khmer: ឯកអគ្គរដ្ឋទូត (ʼaek ʼakkĕəʼrŏətthaʼtuut), ទូត (km) (tuut)
Korean: 대사(大使) (ko) (daesa)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: بالیۆز‎ (ku) (balyoz)
Northern Kurdish: sefîr (ku), ambasador (ku)
Kyrgyz: элчи (ky) (elçi)
Latin: lēgātus (la) m
Macedonian: амбаса́дор m (ambasádor), амбасадорка f (ambasadorka)
Malay: duta
Jawi: دوتا‎
Maltese: ambaxxatur
Navajo: naalchiʼí
Norman: ambassadeu m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ambassadør (no) m
Nynorsk: ambassadør m
Occitan: ambaissador (oc) m, ambaissairitz (oc) f
Old English: ǣrendraca m
Oriya: ଦୁତ (dutô)
Persian: سفیر‎ (fa) (safir), آمباسادور‎ (âmbâsâdor), ایلچی‎ (fa) (ilči) (obsolete)
Polish: ambasador (pl) m, ambasadorka f
Portuguese: embaixador (pt) m, embaixadora (pt) f
Romanian: ambasador (ro) m, ambasadoare f
Russian: посо́л (ru) m (posól)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: амба̀са̄дор m, велепосла̀нӣк m (Croatia), велепо̀сланица f (Croatia)
Roman: ambàsādor (sh) m, veleposlànīk (sh) m (Croatia), velepòslanica (sh) f (Croatia)
Slovene: veleposlanik (sl) m, ambasador (sl) m
Sotho: moambasadara
Spanish: embajador (es) m, embajadora (es) f
Swahili: balozi (sw)
Swedish: ambassadör (sv) c
Tagalog: sugo, embahador (tl)
Turkish: büyükelçi (tr)
Urdu: سفیر‎ m (safīr), وزیر‎ (ur) m (vazīr)

representative

Afrikaans: ambassadeur
Albanian: ambasador (sq) m
Amharic: አምባሳደር (ʾämbasadär)
Arabic: سَفِير‎ m (safīr), سَفِيرَة‎ f (safīra)
Armenian: դեսպան (hy) (despan)
Azerbaijani: səfir (az), elçi
Cyrillic: сәфир
Persic: سفیر‎
Belarusian: пасо́л m (pasól), амбаса́дар m (ambasádar), амбаса́дарка f (ambasádarka)
Bengali: রাষ্ট্রদূত (raṣṭrôdūt)
Bulgarian: посла́ник (bg) m (poslánik), посла́ничка f (poslánička), посо́л m (posól) (dated, literary)
Burmese: သံအမတ်ကြီး (sam-a.matkri:), သံအမတ် (my) (sam-a.mat)
Chechen: векал (vekal)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 大使 (daai⁶ si³)
Dungan: дашы (dašɨ)
Hakka: 大使 (thai-sṳ́)
Mandarin: 大使 (zh) (dàshǐ)
Min Nan: 大使 (tāi-sài)
Coptic: ⲡⲣⲉⲥⲃⲉⲩⲧⲏⲥ m (presbeutēs)
Czech: velvyslanec (cs) m, velvyslankyně (cs) f
Danish: ambassadør (da) c
Dutch: gezant (nl) m, ambassadeur (nl) m, ambassadrice (nl) f
Esperanto: ambasadoro (eo) (male), ambasadorino (female)
Estonian: suursaadik
Finnish: lähettiläs (fi)
French: ambassadeur (fr) m, ambassadrice (fr) f
Georgian: ელჩი (elči)
German: Botschafter (de) m, Botschafterin (de) f
Greek: πρεσβευτής (el) m (presveftís), πρεσβευτίνα f (presveftína)
Gujarati: એલચી (gu) (elacī), રાજદૂત m (rājdūt)
Hebrew: שַׁגְרִיר‎ (he) m (shagrír)
Hindi: दूत (hi) m (dūt), राजदूत (hi) m (rājdūt), एलची (hi) m (elcī), सफीर (hi) m (saphīr), नुमाइंदा (hi) m (numāindā), प्रतिनिधि (hi) m (pratinidhi)
Hungarian: nagykövet (hu)
Icelandic: sendiherra m
Ido: ambasadisto (io)
Indonesian: duta besar (id), duta (id)
Irish: ambasadóir m
Italian: ambasciatore (it) m
Japanese: 大使 (ja) (たいし, taishi)
Kannada: ರಾಯಭಾರಿ (kn) (rāyabhāri)
Kazakh: елші (kk) (elşı)
Khmer: ឯកអគ្គរដ្ឋទូត (ʼaek ʼakkĕəʼrŏətthaʼtuut), ទូត (km) (tuut)
Korean: 대사(大使) (ko) (daesa)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: balyoz (ku), sefîr (ku), ambasador (ku)
Kyrgyz: элчи (ky) (elçi)
Lao: ທູດ (thūt)
Latin: legatus (la) m
Latvian: vēstnieks m, vēstniece f
Lithuanian: ambasadorius m, ambasadorė f
Macedonian: амбаса́дор m (ambasádor), амбасадорка f (ambasadorka)
Malay: duta, duta besar
Maori: māngai, māngai kāwanatanga
Marathi: राजदूत (rājdūt)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: элчин сайд (elčin sajd)
Moore: tẽn-taag lɛta
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ambassadør (no) m
Old East Slavic: посълъ m (posŭlŭ)
Old English: ǣrendraca m
Oriya: ରାଷ୍ଟ୍ରଦୂତ (raṣṭrôdutô)
Pashto: سفير‎ (ps) m (safír), ايلچي‎ m (ilčí)
Persian: سفیر‎ (fa) (safir)
Polish: ambasador (pl) m, ambasadorka f
Portuguese: embaixador (pt) m, representante (pt) m or f
Romanian: ambasador (ro) m, reprezentant (ro) m
Russian: посо́л (ru) m (posól)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: амба̀са̄дор m, велепосла̀нӣк m (Croatia), велепо̀сланица f (Croatia), изасла̀нӣк m
Roman: ambàsādor (sh) m, veleposlànīk (sh) m (Croatia), velepòslanica (sh) f (Croatia), izaslànīk (sh)
Shor: элчи (elçi)
Sinhalese: තානාපති (tānāpati)
Slovak: veľvyslanec m, veľvyslankyňa f
Slovene: veleposlanik (sl) m, ambasador (sl) m, veleposlanica f, ambasadorka f
Southern Altai: элчи (elči)
Spanish: embajador (es) m, embajadora (es) f
Swahili: balozi (sw)
Swedish: ambassadör (sv) c
Tajik: сафир (safir), элчӣ (tg) (elčī)
Tatar: илче (tt) (ilçe)
Thai: ทูต (th) (tûut)
Tibetan: གཞུང་ཚབ (gzhung tshab)
Tigrinya: ኣምባስደር (ʾambasdär)
Turkish: elçi (tr), büyükelçi (tr)
Turkmen: ilçi
Cyrillic: илчи
Tuvan: элчин (elçin)
Ukrainian: посо́л m (posól), посо́лка f (posólka)
Urdu: سفیر‎ m (safīr), ایلچی‎ m (ēlcī), نمائندہ‎ m (numāīnda)
Uyghur: ئەلچى‎ (elchi)
Uzbek: elchi (uz)
Cyrillic: әлчи
Vietnamese: đại sứ (vi) (大使)
Welsh: llysgennad m
Yiddish: אַמבאַסאַדאָר‎ m (ambasador)
Zhuang: dasij