potentiaryn.
/pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)ri/, U.S. /pəˈtɛn(t)ʃəri/ Now historical and rare.
A person possessing power or authority to act, esp. in a limited or circumscribed way. Cf. plenipotentiary n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > power > [noun] > powerful person or body > powerful person > possessing power to act
potentiary1712
1712 Newdigate Newslet. 25 Dec. (Folger L.c.3554) Count Zinzendorffe the Empers Plenepotiary made a Noble Entertainemt for the Potentiaryes of the Severall Provinces of the Empire & for those of his Royall Highness the Duke of Savoy.
1830 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1971) VI. 851 And little, I fear, would the influences of my name & opinion be, with the Potentiaries of the World.
1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xxx. 296 The last great potentiary had arrived who was to take part in the family congress.
2004 Times (Nexis) 18 Sept. 14 The papal chamberlain Peppe recounts his progression through the ranks of Roman society, from street urchin to religiously conflicted Vatican potentiary.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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