ambassador

B2 Topic:Politics & International Affairs

US /æmˈbæs.ə.dɚ/ UK /æmˈbæs.ə.də(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #3913

Meanings

1

noun
The most senior official who represents their country in a foreign country.

She was appointed ambassador to France last year.
2

noun
A person who officially represents an organization, cause, or activity.

The footballer became an ambassador for the children's charity.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms ambassadors

Derived forms ambassadonorambassador-at-largeambassadorialambassadorlessambassadorshipambassadressambassadrixambassadrycoambassadorglambassador

Related forms consul embassy

Simplified etymology

Ambassador belongs to the same word family as embassy and its older variant ambassy. The family is traced through Old French ambasse to Latin ambactus, “servant,” and ambassador is recorded in English from late Middle English.

Etymology

From Middle English ambassadore, from Anglo-Norman ambassadeur, from Old Italian ambassadore, from Old Occitan ambaisador (“ambassador”), derivative of ambaissa (“service, mission, errand”), ultimately from 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.

ambassadore Middle English ambassadeur xno ambaisador pro *ambahtaz Proto-Germanic ambaxtos cel-gau *ambaxtos Proto-Celtic *h₂m̥bʰi-h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Politics & International Affairs

External links

# ambassador

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /æmˈbæs.ə.dɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /æmˈbæs.ə.də(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 3913

## Meanings
1. The most senior official who represents their country in a foreign country.
2. A person who officially represents an organization, cause, or activity.

## Examples
- She was appointed ambassador to France last year.
- The footballer became an ambassador for the children's charity.

## Derived Forms
- ambassadonor
- ambassador-at-large
- ambassadorial
- ambassadorless
- ambassadorship
- ambassadress
- ambassadrix
- ambassadry
- coambassador
- glambassador

## Related Forms
- consul
- embassy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ambassadore
- Root: ambassadeur
- Root: ambaisador
- Root: *ambahtaz
- Root: ambaxtos
- Root: *ambaxtos
- Root: *h₂m̥bʰi-h₂eǵ-

## Etymology
From Middle English ambassadore, from Anglo-Norman ambassadeur, from Old Italian ambassadore, from Old Occitan ambaisador (“ambassador”), derivative of ambaissa (“service, mission, errand”), ultimately from 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.

## AI Etymology
Ambassador comes from Middle English ambassadore, from Anglo-Norman ambassadeur, from Old Italian ambassadore, from Old Occitan ambaisador (“ambassador”), derivative of ambaissa (“service, mission, errand”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *ambahtaz (“servant”), from Gaulish ambaxtos, from Proto-Celtic *ambaxtos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi-h₂eǵ- (“drive around”), from *h₂m̥bʰi- (“around”) plus *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”). Displaced native Old English ǣrendraca.

## Topics
- Politics & International Affairs

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