missionary

American  

[mish-uh-ner-ee] / ˈmɪʃ əˌnɛr i /

noun

• missionaries
  plural

1. a person sent by a church into an area to carry on evangelism or other activities, as educational or hospital work.

   There are opportunities for student missionaries living abroad to work with people in need of aid, participate in building projects, and share the Gospel.

2. a person strongly in favor of a program, set of principles, etc., who attempts to persuade or convert others.

3. a person who is sent on a mission.

4. missionary position.

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adjective

1. pertaining to or connected with religious missions.

2. engaged in such a mission or devoted to work connected with missions.

3. reflecting or prompted by the desire to persuade or convert others.

   the missionary efforts of political fanatics.

4. characteristic of a missionary.

   missionary zeal.

5. relating to or noting the missionary position.

   Then it was up to the bedroom for some good, old-fashioned missionary sex.

missionary British  

/ ˈmɪʃənərɪ /

noun

1. a member of a religious mission

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adjective

1. of or relating to missionaries

   missionary work

2. resulting from a desire to convert people to one's own beliefs

   missionary zeal

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonmissionary
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• missionaries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of missionary

First recorded in 1625–35; from New Latin missiōnārius; see mission, -ary

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Explanation

A missionary is someone who travels to a foreign country to perform charitable work and, most commonly, to try to convert people to their faith. Missionary can be a noun — the person who goes on a mission — or an adjective — the type of work done on such a trip. If your great-grandmother was a missionary for the Methodist church in Japan in the 1920s, her purpose there was to convince people to abandon their religion for Methodism. Presumably she did this missionary work because she thought it would save their souls.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

missionary missionaries

Related: My grandpa retired happily at 70 with $750K after working as a missionary.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

Leo XIV was born in the US city of Chicago but lived in Peru for more than two decades, where he was a missionary and bishop in Chiclayo.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

Then an American missionary, played by Scottish actor Douglas Henshall, arrives.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

For a couple of years, Trinidad juggled barber college, work at FedEx and missionary work through his L.A. church, Iglesia De Jesucristo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

All in preparation for the work they feel they were bom for, missionary work in Africa.

From "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker

Rio and cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz shot Angh on 16mm film, drawing on photographs and footage of missionaries and Naga communities from the 1950s and 60s.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Tassone said Ross had visited other friends in Norway and Denmark, and had supported missionaries financially.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

A new San Gabriel mission was being built, five years after Franciscan missionaries had founded the original mission in a flood zone, which flooded.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

Since owners worried that literacy would encourage slaves to seek freedom, missionaries found themselves limited in what form of Christianity they could present to enslaved people.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

The traders got her cold eye, the missionaries her hard glare, the few other white visitors who chanced onto the island received from Old Tallow no welcome.

From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich

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Related Words

• clergy
• evangelist
• messenger
• pastor
• preacher
• teacher

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