Messenger
/ˈmesɪndʒər/
Definitions
2 meaningsA person or thing that carries a message or communicates information.
/ˈmesɪndʒər/
A person who carries a message.
The messenger arrived with a sealed envelope.
💡 Simply: Imagine someone runs a letter from one place to another - that person is a messenger! Like a delivery person.
👶 For kids: A messenger is someone who brings a note or a message to someone else.
More Examples
The king sent a messenger to warn the neighboring kingdom.
A raven was the messenger in the story.
How It's Used
"The messenger delivered the urgent news."
"The company hired a messenger service to deliver important documents."
"In the play, the messenger brought tidings of war."
A means of conveying information or signals.
/ˈmesɪndʒər/
A person or thing that communicates a message.
The email served as a messenger, alerting everyone to the meeting.
💡 Simply: Anything that tells you something, like a notification on your phone or a feeling inside you - that's also a messenger!
👶 For kids: Sometimes a messenger can be anything that tells you information or signals something.
More Examples
The chemical messenger triggered the cells' response.
A billboard served as a visual messenger.
How It's Used
"An error message can act as a messenger to warn about a system problem."
"A hormone can be seen as a messenger, carrying information to different parts of the body"
Idioms & expressions
shoot the messenger
To punish or blame the person who delivers bad news, rather than addressing the news itself.
"Instead of fixing the problems, the CEO decided to shoot the messenger and fired the employee who pointed out the issues."
From Middle English messager, from Old French messagier, from message (message) + -ier (suffix indicating an agent).
The word 'messenger' has been used since the Middle Ages, initially referring to a person sent to deliver a message.
Memory tip
Think of a person delivering a physical message. The 'mess' age is delivered by the 'messenger'.
Word Origin
"a person sent to deliver a message"