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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

The telescope also played a significant role during the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969, serving as an important receiving station for communications from the historic mission.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Without making any reference to the the environmental concerns, Lee said the successful trial mission would help his country "prepare for the era of Arctic shipping routes".

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

Standing alongside legendary astronauts like Neil Armstrong and Dick Gordon, a schoolboy from Lancashire was there to see the final manned lunar landing mission.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

At a packed conference of foreign investors in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, last week, Michael Garcia, deputy chief of mission at the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The last time I’d done this training mission, I’d immediately stood up and made my way to the lobby of the theater, sure that the Butterfly would be in wait there to waylay Booth.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

The size of Cruise's star in the movie firmament makes the comparison even less flattering: "Digger" was never going to be in the same ballpark as the multi-billion dollar "Mission: Impossible" franchise.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

The UK government pledged to continue delivering "vital services" in Jerusalem, saying the consulate general building would remain open and would "be known as the UK Mission, Jerusalem".

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Following discussions with the Israeli government, he said, the building "will not be closing" and will be known as the UK Mission, Jerusalem from Thursday.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

That playbook could translate readily to Paramount and Warner, which together control a deep bench of franchises including Batman, Superman, Harry Potter, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Transformers and SpongeBob SquarePants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

The computer minders of the two IBM 7090s being used to track the flight were ensconced at Goddard, and much of the analysis was being done in the Space Task Group’s Mission Planning Analysis Division.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Australia's radio astronomy facilities have a long history of supporting some of NASA's most important space missions.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

After congratulating the crew on completing thousands of combat missions with “zero casualties, zero flight mishaps, and zero working toilets,” Jost’s Hegseth offered an update on developments back home.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

A childhood of sci-fi, The Thunderbirds and televised Nasa missions meant space was always a keen interest of his.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

The crew also conducted nutrition-focused research and examined how physical characteristics may affect blood flow during spaceflight to help keep astronauts safe and healthy on future missions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

The rest of that night’s missions were canceled.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein