Embassadress

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A woman assigned to represent her government in foreign diplomatic affairs
2. An appointed female official acting on behalf of her country in international diplomacy
3. A woman officially designated to act as a country's primary envoy in diplomatic relations abroad

Etymology: The word "embassadress" is built from "embassador", an older spelling of "ambassador", with the feminine suffix "-ess" added to it. That suffix, which entered English from Old French and ultimately Greek through Latin, has long been used to mark women in roles once assumed to belong to men, such as "actress" and "hostess." The base word itself traces back through Old French "ambassade" to Italian and Latin roots meaning a mission or message, so the whole chain describes someone sent on an errand. The spelling "embassador" shows the word's path into English more clearly than the modern form does. Its "emb-" opening reflects the Romance spelling that English writers kept for a time before the initial vowel shifted in common usage, so "embassadress" preserves an older look that "ambassadress" has since replaced.

Synonyms: female ambassador, diplomat, envoy, representative, delegate