mission

[ mish-uh n ]

/ ˈmɪʃ ən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mission ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

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.

adjective

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.

Nearby words

missing, missing fundamental, missing link, missing mass, missiology, mission, mission control, mission creep, mission specialist, mission statement, mission viejo

Origin of mission

1590–1600; 1925–30 for def 8; < Latin missiōn- (stem of missiō) a sending off, equivalent to miss(us) (past participle of mittere to send) + -iōn- -ion

Related formsmis·sion·al, adjective

Definition for mission (2 of 2)

Mission

[ mish-uh n ]

/ ˈmɪʃ ən /

noun

a city in S Texas.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mission

We knew that many academics today would consider our mission naïve.
American Democracy Under Threat for 250 Years|Jedediah Purdy|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As the fight raged on, Ahmed and the three women fighters who were part of the mission, sent out calls for help.
The Brothers Who Ambushed ISIS|Mohammed A. Salih|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I asked him to describe the U.S. mission that will likely revert back to the embassy it was more than a half century ago.
Meet America’s Next Ambassador to Cuba|Eleanor Clift|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The mission is to teach any person to use technology for independence and empowerment no matter where they are located.
3-D Printing Is Changing the Future of Prosthetics|Lucy Vernasco|December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Despite the inherent risk, the president decided the mission was crucial.
Did U.S. Policy Get Luke Somers Killed?|Shane Harris|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This receipt you will preserve and return to me in token that you have fulfilled your mission.
Lochinvar|S. R. Crockett
A school with this object was established in our Mission in 1845.
Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877|James Kennedy
Could he in any way get to that "Mission Press" in Bangalore?
In Kali's Country|Emily Churchill Thompson Sheets
Before the mission site had been agreed upon two young boys came and asked for work.
South and South Central Africa|H. Frances Davidson
This is the mission upon which Democracy came into the world.
State of the Union Addresses of Woodrow Wilson|Woodrow Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for mission

mission

/ (ˈmɪʃən) /

noun

a specific task or duty assigned to a person or group of peopletheir 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
US 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 missiona mission station

Southern African a long and difficult process

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

verb

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

Word Origin for mission

C16: from Latin missiō, from mittere to send

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mission

mission

1590s, "a sending abroad," originally of Jesuits, from Latin missionem (nominative missio) "act of sending, a despatching; a release, a setting at liberty; discharge from service, dismissal," noun of action from past participle stem of mittere "to send," oldest form probably *smittere, of unknown origin.

Diplomatic sense of "body of persons sent to a foreign land on commercial or political business" is from 1620s. In American English, sometimes "an embassy" (1805). Meaning "dispatch of an aircraft on a military operation" (1929, American English) later extended to spacecraft flights (1962), hence, mission control (1964). As a style of furniture, said to be imitative of furniture in the buildings of original Spanish missions to North America, it is attested from 1900.

mission

noun

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of mission

Definition for mission (2 of 2)

Mission

noun

Examples from the Web for mission

British Dictionary definitions for mission

mission

noun

verb

Word Origin for mission

Word Origin and History for mission

mission