It means someone sent out carrying the sender's own authority, not merely a messenger with a message to pass on.
In everyday Greek before the New Testament, apostolos could describe a fleet dispatched on a mission, or an envoy carrying full authority to act for whoever sent him. The Twelve whom Jesus named and sent out carry exactly that weight: not admirers, not students, but men entrusted to speak and act in his place. Paul insists on the word for himself for the same reason - it is a claim about authority, not just movement.
But the New Testament also uses it loosely. Epaphroditus is called an apostolos of the Philippian church, and unnamed brothers are apostoloi of the congregations that sent them to Paul. There the word means something closer to 'delegate' or 'representative', with no claim to speak for Christ himself. English has to guess, each time, which register is meant.
When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles:
Jesus names twelve from among his disciples and formally titles them apostles.
Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
A rare non-technical use, pairing 'apostolos' with a servant to show delegated authority in general terms.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—
Paul opens by claiming the word for himself, staking his authority on a direct commission from Christ.
As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.
Unnamed church representatives are called apostoloi, showing the word's looser, non-office use.
Most translations keep 'apostle' whenever the Twelve or Paul are in view, treating the Greek almost as a fixed title rather than an ordinary word. When the same term turns up for a church's delegate, as in 2 Corinthians 8:23, translators usually switch to 'messenger' or 'representative'. That's a reasonable choice, but it hides the fact that Paul used one word for both the office and the errand-runner.
People often stop at the etymology - apo (from) plus stellō (send) - and conclude apostolos just means 'someone sent'. True, but thin. In both Greek usage and the New Testament it carries the sender's authority along with it, like an ambassador rather than a postman. Missing that turns Jesus commissioning the Twelve into something far more casual than it was.
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