I. ˈmes ə njə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English messager, messangere, messengere, from Old French messagier, from message, from Medieval Latin missaticum, from Latin missus, past participle of mittere to send — more at smite
1. : one who bears a message or does an errand : courier , emissary , envoy : as
a. archaic : one who prepares the way : forerunner , harbinger
behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me — Mal 3:1 (Revised Standard Version)
b. : a dispatch bearer (as for an official or a government body or in military service)
queen's messenger
city messenger
messengers, orderlies, and any other soldiers — F.V.W.Mason
c. : one employed by a business concern to do errands within or outside the establishment
bank messengers empty the boxes once a week — L.H.Olsen
d.
(1) : a postal employee who delivers special-delivery mail
(2) : mail messenger
e. : a delegate to a religious convention or meeting ; especially : one sent from a local church within a denomination that adheres to a congregational polity
f. : a character especially in a classical Greek play who comes onstage to make known an action that has occurred offstage
all theatergoers now must have watched for the entrance of the breathless messenger , who knows the result — John Masefield
2.
a. : a rope or chain passed round a capstan and having its two ends lashed together to form an endless rope or chain
b. : a light line used in hauling a heavier line (as between ships)
c. : a device sliding on a line for operating a trip (as to release a target or close a net)
d. : messenger cable
II. noun
1. : a substance (as a hormone) that mediates a biological effect — see second messenger herein
2. : messenger RNA herein