Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LEG'ATE, n. [Fr. legat; L. legatus, from lego, to send. See Lackey.]

1. An embassador; but especially,
2. The pope's embassador to a foreign prince or state; a cardinal or bishop sent as the pope's representative or commissioner to a sovereign prince. Legates are of three kinds; legates a latere, or counselors and assistants of his holiness, legates de latere, who are not cardinals, and legates by office. – Encyc.