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• mission
  mission

  noun

  a group or committee of persons sent to a foreign country to conduct negotiations, establish relations, provide scientific and technical assistance, or the like.
• Mission
  Mission

  noun

  a city in S Texas.

mission

¹ American  

[mish-uhn] / ˈmɪʃ ən /

noun

• missions
  plural

1. a group or committee of persons sent to a foreign country to conduct negotiations, establish relations, provide scientific and technical assistance, or the like.

2. the business with which such a group is charged.

3. any important task or duty that is assigned, allotted, or self-imposed.

   Our mission is to find the child a safe home.

4. an important goal or purpose that is accompanied by strong conviction; a calling or vocation.

   She has finally found her mission in life.

5. a sending or being sent for some duty or purpose.

6. those sent.

7. Also called foreign mission.  a permanent diplomatic establishment abroad; embassy; legation.

8. Military. an operational task, usually assigned by a higher headquarters.

   a mission to bomb the bridge.

9. Aerospace. an operation designed to carry out the goals of a specific program.

   a space mission.

10. Also called foreign mission.  a group of persons sent by a church to carry on religious work, especially evangelization in foreign lands, and often to establish schools, hospitals, etc.

11. an establishment of missionaries in a foreign land; a missionary church or station.

12. a similar establishment in any region.

13. the district assigned to a missionary.

14. missionary duty or work.

15. an organization for carrying on missionary work.

16. Also called rescue mission.  a shelter operated by a church or other organization offering food, lodging, and other assistance to needy persons.

17. missions, organized missionary work or activities in any country or region.

18. a church or a region dependent on a larger church or denomination.

19. a series of special religious services for increasing religious devotion and converting unbelievers.

    to preach a mission.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a mission.

2. (usually initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a style of American furniture of the early 20th century, created in supposed imitation of the furnishings of the Spanish missions of California and characterized by the use of dark, stained wood, by heaviness, and by extreme plainness.

Mission ² American  

[mish-uhn] / ˈmɪʃ ən /

noun

1. a city in S Texas.

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mission British  

/ ˈmɪʃən /

noun

1. a specific task or duty assigned to a person or group of people

   their mission was to irrigate the desert

2. a person's vocation (often in the phrase mission in life )

3. a group of persons representing or working for a particular country, business, etc, in a foreign country

4. 1. a special embassy sent to a foreign country for a specific purpose

   2. a permanent legation

5. 1. a group of people sent by a religious body, esp a Christian church, to a foreign country to do religious and social work

   2. the campaign undertaken by such a group

6. 1. the work or calling of a missionary

   2. a building or group of buildings in which missionary work is performed

   3. the area assigned to a particular missionary

7. the dispatch of aircraft or spacecraft to achieve a particular task

8. a church or chapel that has no incumbent of its own

9. a charitable centre that offers shelter, aid, or advice to the destitute or underprivileged

10. (modifier) of or relating to an ecclesiastical mission

    a mission station

11. a long and difficult process

12. (modifier) (of furniture) in the style of the early Spanish missions of the southwestern US

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verb

1. (tr) to direct a mission to or establish a mission in (a given region)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• missional
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• missions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mission

First recorded in 1590–1600; 1925–30 mission for def. 8; from Latin missiōn-, stem of missiō “dismissal,” literally, “a sending,” equivalent to miss(us) (past participle of mittere “to send”) + -iō -ion

Explanation

A mission is a special quest, one that involves more effort than, say, a trip to the corner store. If you were to drive all around the state searching garage sales for porcelain cats, you could say you were on a mission. Mission comes from a Latin word that means “to send.” It was first used by Jesuit missionaries who sent members of their order overseas to establish schools and churches. Foreign travel is still associated with the word. When diplomats and humanitarian workers travel abroad, we often refer to those trips as missions.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mission Mission missions

Those observations will inform an aspirational future mission — the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which aims to view Earth-like planets more than 1 billion times dimmer than their host stars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now just two days from launch, marking the arrival of the agency's next flagship astrophysics mission after the James Webb Space Telescope.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

Dr Sharman said during the mission she was affected by radiation from outside the solar system, called galactic cosmic rays.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

The US president also presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the crew of NASA's Artemis 2 mission, which flew past the moon in April.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

They had one mission: to find and save the missing geologist.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

At the Milwaukee Jewish Mission, Kander celebrated the customs these new arrivals brought over from the Old World while giving them the tools to rise and thrive in their new homes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

She was the co-founder of the Milwaukee Jewish Mission, an organization aligned with the settlement movement, which helped Jewish immigrants adapt to life in the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Brian Anderson, a Methodist minister with the East Belfast Mission, said the narrative that loyalist communities are losing out to those in republican areas is deeply ingrained.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Similar signage also appears at the Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! attractions, officials said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

“And the Mission League cut off our stipend right before Independence!”

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

"Excavations in dangerous areas have come to a halt, and archaeological missions are going through a period of minimal activity throughout Lebanon, especially in the southern regions."

From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026

Used together, the two missions could reveal far more about the universe than either telescope could on its own.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

As a member of NASA’s class of “flagship” astrophysics missions, its acclaimed colleagues include the Hubble and the James Webb space telescopes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

It will be used to "support thousands of Starship flights a year with missions launching to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond," SpaceX said on Tuesday.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

During the course of the war, squadron commander Marina Smirnova flew 935 night bomber missions for the 46th Guards.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein