Legates

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A representative or envoy appointed to act on behalf of a higher authority
2. a delegate entrusted with specific duties or missions
3. an individual sent to convey messages or lead negotiations in diplomatic matters

Etymology: "Legates" is the plural of "legate," and the singular has a surprisingly bequest-related past. In Latin, "lēgō" meant "to bequeath" or "leave as a legacy," and the perfect passive participle "lēgātus" came to mean a person who had been entrusted with a mission, someone sent out on another's behalf. The sense of a sent representative grew naturally from the idea of a thing handed over to someone's care. The Latin word also gave English its doublet "legacy," which descends from the neuter form "lēgātum," meaning "a legacy" or bequest. So the two English words are cousins that split apart: one kept the sense of a possession passed down, while the other took on the sense of a person dispatched with authority. The word reached English through Old French "legat," and it was in use in Old English by the time of the Anglo-Saxon period, where it referred to an official envoy, a meaning it still carries.

Synonyms: envoys, delegates, representatives, agents, messengers