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messenger

n. · v.
US //ˈmɛsəndʒɝ// UK //mˈɛsɪndʒɐ// mes·sen·ger
  1. 1 a person carrying news (n.)
    A2 Elementary

    someone who delivers a message or a package to another person.

    a person who carries a message or is employed to deliver telegrams, letters, or parcels.

    Example

    The king sent a messenger to tell the village that the war was over.

    Example

    The bicycle messenger wove through heavy midday traffic to deliver the legal documents before the court closed for the weekend.
  2. 2 messaging software (n.)
    B1 Intermediate Computing

    a computer program or app that lets you send messages to people instantly.

    an application or platform designed for real-time text-based communication over the internet.

    Example

    I will send you the address on messenger as soon as I find it.

    Example

    The company switched to a secure messenger to ensure that internal communications remained encrypted and private.
    • chat app
    • instant messenger
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  1. 3 a sign of things to come (n.)
    C1 Advanced Literary

    a sign that something else is about to happen.

    a forerunner or harbinger that signals the approach of a future event.

    Example

    The cold wind was a messenger of the long winter ahead.

    Example

    The sudden drop in barometric pressure served as a silent messenger of the approaching hurricane.
  2. 4 a light rope (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Nautical

    a thin rope used to pull a much heavier rope from a ship to a dock.

    a light line used to haul a heavier cable or hawser, typically from a vessel to a pier or another ship.

    Example

    The sailors threw a messenger to the workers on the pier so they could pull the thick mooring rope in.

    Example

    The deckhand expertly coiled the messenger before casting it toward the dock, allowing the shore crew to secure the heavy hawser.
    • heaving line
  3. 5 to send via courier (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    to send something using a person who delivers things.

    to dispatch a document or package via a dedicated courier service.

    Example

    I can messenger the keys to your office if you need them right away.

    Example

    The law firm decided to messenger the original contracts to the client's home to ensure they were signed before the morning deadline.

    Usage

    This verb is transitive and requires a direct object.
Origin

From Middle English messengere, messingere, messangere, from Old French messanger, a variant of Old French messagier (French messager), equivalent to message + -er. Doublet of messager. Displaced native Old English boda (“messenger, envoy”) and ǣrendraca (“messenger, ambassador”). For the replacement of -ager with -enger, -inger, -anger, compare passenger, harbinger, scavenger, porringer. This development may have been merely the addition of n, or it may have resulted due to contamination from other suffixes such as Middle English -ing and the rare Old French -ange, -enc, -inge, -inghe (“-ing”) for Old French -age (“-age”).

Idioms1 entry

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