Online Encyclopedia
Make a correction
Your email address will not appear on the site. Note, comments may take some time to be approved.
Back to article:
EMBASSY
Your email:
Article name:
Article content:
EMBASSY, the office of an ambassador, or, more generally, the mission on which an ambassador of one power is sent to another, or the body of official personages attached to such a mission, whether temporary or permanent. Hence " embassy " is often quite loosely used of any mission, diplomatic or other-wise. The word is also used of the official residence of an ambassador. "Embassy " was originally " ambassy," the form used in the 17th century, but by the time of Johnson considered quite obsolete. " Ambassy " is from the 0. Fr. ambassee, derived through such forms as the Port. ambassada, Ital. ambasciata from a lost Med. Lat. ambactiata, ambactiare, to go on a mission. (See further AMBASSADOR, EXTERRITORIALITY and DIPLOMACY.)