pursuivant means A functionary of lower rank than a herald, but discharging similar duties; an attendant of the heralds, e.g. in the College of Arms. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
PURSUIVANT — [Noun] A junior officer of arms attendant upon a herald, or a royal messenger empowered to execute warrants. From Middle English pursevant, from Old French pursuivant ("following, pursuing"), present participle of pursuivre ("to follow, pursue"), from Latin prosequi ("to follow after, pursue"). Unlike a herald, a senior officer who proclaims from settled authority, or a mere messenger, a generic courier of tidings, a pursuivant is the ambition in motion—the one dispatched to follow through. He is the sound of boot-heels on a castle stair, the figure in a tabard faded by rain waiting at the back of the hall, the name signed at the bottom of a scroll that turns a thought into an arrest. His entire existence is a transitive state, forever following, never arriving, bearing the authority of others like a borrowed coat that never quite fits.
noun
- A functionary of lower rank than a herald, but discharging similar duties; an attendant of the heralds, e.g. in the College of Arms.“How oft do they [the blessed Angels] with golden pineons, cleaue / The flitting skyes, like flying Purſuiuant, / Againſt fowle feendes to ayd vs millitant: […]”
- A Grand Lodge Officer who guards the inner door during a meeting of the Grand Lodge.
- A royal messenger, (particularly) one with the authority to execute warrants.“The law was altogether without force in the highlands which lie on the south of the vale of Tralee. No officer of justice willingly ventured into those parts. One pursuivant who in 1680 attempted to execute a warrant there was murdered.”
- A warrant officer.
- A follower.