enigma
[uh-nig-muh]
- a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation: His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.
- a person of puzzling or contradictory character: To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.
- a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning; riddle.
- (initial capital letter) a German-built enciphering machine developed for commercial use in the early 1920s and later adapted and appropriated by German and other Axis powers for military use through World War II.
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Origin of enigma
1530–40; < Latin aenigma < Greek aínigma, equivalent to ainik- (stem of ainíssesthai to speak in riddles, derivative of aînos fable) + -ma noun suffix of result
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
conundrumpuzzleriddlemystificationperplexitysticklerquestionsecretcliffhangertwisterpuzzlementcryptogramparablecruxpuzzlerknotwhybewildermentproblemstumperExamples from the Web for enigma
Contemporary Examples
As great as this feat was, an equally demanding test followed: to conceal from the Nazis that Enigma had been beaten.
The name is "an enigma even to me," Taylor says -- an appropriately mysterious moniker to make spiritual music under.
Leaps of Faith: Wrestling With Uncertainty and Finding Grace Through the Music of Hiss Golden MessengerHoward Wolfson
March 2, 2014
Lil B is a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a song about Ellen Degeneres.
The prodigious computer genius, who took his own life Friday at age 26, remains an enigma to those unaware of his many projects.
Despite her many high-profile projects, Carine Roitfeld still manages to maintain a sense of enigma in the public mind.
Carine Roitfeld Talks About New Harper’s Bazaar Job at French Institute in New YorkMisty White Sidell
November 6, 2012
Historical Examples
"Troilus and Cressida" has always been regarded as a sort of enigma.
The Man ShakespeareFrank Harris
As for Jane Temple's view of this business, that remained an enigma.
Quaint CourtshipsVarious
Whether he will buy his fleet abroad or build it himself is at present an enigma.
FreelandTheodor Hertzka
By the dignity of my profession, it must be so:—Now there's a solution to the enigma.
The Politician Out-WittedSamuel Low
The Queen then condescended to explain the whole of the enigma to me.
enigma
- a person, thing, or situation that is mysterious, puzzling, or ambiguous
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigma, from ainissesthai to speak in riddles, from ainos fable, story
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for enigma
n.
1580s, earlier enigmate (mid-15c.), from Latin aenigma "riddle," from Greek ainigma (plural ainigmata), from ainissesthai "speak obscurely, speak in riddles," from ainos "fable, riddle," of unknown origin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper