Definition of "minister plenipotentiary" []

• A diplomatic representative ranking below an ambassador but having full governmental power and authority; a plenipotentiary. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There the chevalier César de la Luzerne, the new French minister plenipotentiary to the United States, paid a visit to him in the fall and was welcomed with a tremendous artillery salute."
• "On board was Conrad-Alexandre Gérard, the first French minister plenipotentiary to the United States."
• "Conspicuous among friends of this particular character, is Baron von Kiderlen-Waechter, who holds the rank of minister plenipotentiary in the diplomatic service of Germany, and who was recently, and possibly still remains, Prussian envoy to the Court of Denmark, but who is known in the imperial circle at Berlin by the nickname of “August,” that being the “sobriquet” given to the clowns belonging to variety-shows and circuses in England, Austria, and France."