a group or committee of persons sent to a foreign country to conduct negotiations, establish relations, provide scientific and technical assistance, or the like.
the business with which such a group is charged.
any important task or duty that is assigned, allotted, or self-imposed.
Our mission is to find the child a safe home.
an important goal or purpose that is accompanied by strong conviction; a calling or vocation.
She has finally found her mission in life.
a sending or being sent for some duty or purpose.
those sent.
Also called foreign mission. a permanent diplomatic establishment abroad; embassy; legation.
Military. an operational task, usually assigned by a higher headquarters.
a mission to bomb the bridge.
Aerospace. an operation designed to carry out the goals of a specific program.
a space mission.
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.
an establishment of missionaries in a foreign land; a missionary church or station.
a similar establishment in any region.
the district assigned to a missionary.
missionary duty or work.
an organization for carrying on missionary work.
Also called rescue mission. a shelter operated by a church or other organization offering food, lodging, and other assistance to needy persons.
missions, organized missionary work or activities in any country or region.
a church or a region dependent on a larger church or denomination.
a series of special religious services for increasing religious devotion and converting unbelievers.
to preach a mission.
of or relating to a mission.
(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.
a specific task or duty assigned to a person or group of people
their mission was to irrigate the desert
a person's vocation (often in the phrase mission in life )
a group of persons representing or working for a particular country, business, etc, in a foreign country
a special embassy sent to a foreign country for a specific purpose
a permanent legation
a group of people sent by a religious body, esp a Christian church, to a foreign country to do religious and social work
the campaign undertaken by such a group
the work or calling of a missionary
a building or group of buildings in which missionary work is performed
the area assigned to a particular missionary
the dispatch of aircraft or spacecraft to achieve a particular task
a church or chapel that has no incumbent of its own
a charitable centre that offers shelter, aid, or advice to the destitute or underprivileged
(modifier) of or relating to an ecclesiastical mission
a mission station
a long and difficult process
(modifier) (of furniture) in the style of the early Spanish missions of the southwestern US
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
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
MISSION, Texas — Along a bend in the Rio Grande, shorn of all brush except for an occasional palm, looms an 18-foot fence of galvanized steel a few feet from the muddy water’s edge.
From New York Times • Jan. 5, 2023
MISSION, Kan. —- President Joe Biden has warned Americans to take seriously a storm that is spreading severe cold, snow and wind.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 22, 2022
MISSION, Kan. - Health officials in Kansas’ largest county are making it easier for older students to head back to class even as coronavirus outbreaks in schools and sports infect hundreds statewide.
From Washington Times • Oct. 3, 2020
ON A MISSION: An antigovernment protester stood near soldiers guarding a defense ministry compound, which is serving as a temporary office for Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, in Bangkok Wednesday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2014
"Science for a better life … technology for innovators … the power of choice … OUR MISSION" runs a giant digital ticker tape behind them, as a pounding drone-dirge rings out.
From The Guardian • Feb. 19, 2013
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
