Adjacent Words

Mission definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MIS'SION, n. [L. missio, from mitto, to send.]
1. A sending or being sent, usually the latter; a being sent or delegated by authority, with certain powers for transacting business; commission; as sent on a foreign mission.
How to begin, how to accomplish best
His end of being on earth, and mission high.
2. Persons sent; any number of persons appointed by authority to perform any service; particularly, the persons sent to propagate religion, or evangelize the heathen. The societies for propagating the gospel have missions in almost every country. Last week a mission sailed for the Sandwich isles. We have domestic missions and foreign missions.
3. Dismission; discharge from service; a Roman use of the word; in English, obsolete.
4. Faction; party. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an organization of missionaries in a foreign land sent to carry on religious work [syn: mission, missionary post, missionary station, foreign mission]
2: an operation that is assigned by a higher headquarters; "the planes were on a bombing mission" [syn: mission, military mission]
3: a special assignment that is given to a person or group; "a confidential mission to London"; "his charge was deliver a message" [syn: mission, charge, commission]
4: the organized work of a religious missionary [syn: mission, missionary work]
5: a group of representatives or delegates [syn: deputation, commission, delegation, delegacy, mission]

Merriam Webster's

geographical name 1. city S Texas population 45,408 2. municipality Canada in SW British Columbia population 31,272

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: New Latin, Medieval Latin, & Latin; New Latin mission-, missio religious mission, from Medieval Latin, task assigned, from Latin, act of sending, from mittere to send Date: 1530 1. obsolete the act or an instance of sending 2. a. a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work b. assignment to or work in a field of missionary enterprise c. (1) a mission establishment (2) a local church or parish dependent on a larger religious organization for direction or financial support d. plural organized missionary work e. a course of sermons and services given to convert the unchurched or quicken Christian faith 3. a body of persons sent to perform a service or carry on an activity: as a. a group sent to a foreign country to conduct diplomatic or political negotiations b. a permanent embassy or legation c. a team of specialists or cultural leaders sent to a foreign country 4. a. a specific task with which a person or a group is charged b. (1) a definite military, naval, or aerospace task <a bombing mission> <a space mission> (2) a flight operation of an aircraft or spacecraft in the performance of a mission <a mission to Mars> c. a preestablished and often self-imposed objective or purpose <statement of the company's mission> 5. calling, vocation II. transitive verb (missioned; missioning) Date: 1692 1. to send on or entrust with a mission 2. to carry on a religious mission among or in III. adjective Date: 1900 1. of or relating to a style used in the early Spanish missions of the southwestern United States <mission architecture> 2. of, relating to, or having the characteristic of a style of plain heavy usually oak furniture originating in the United States in the early part of the 20th century

Britannica Concise

Organized effort to spread the Christian faith. St. Paul evangelized much of Asia Minor and Greece, and the new religion spread rapidly along the trade routes of the Roman empire. The advance of Christianity slowed with the disintegration of the Roman empire after 500 and the growth of Arab power in the 7th-8th cent., but Celtic and British missionaries continued to spread the faith in W and N Europe, while missionaries of the Greek church in Constantinople worked in E Europe and Russia. Missions to Islamic areas and the Orient began in the medieval period, and when Spain, Portugal, and France established overseas empires in the 16th cent., the Roman Catholic church sent missionaries to the Americas and the Philippines. A renewed wave of Roman Catholic missionary work in the 19th cent. focused on Africa and Asia. Protestant churches were slower to undertake foreign missions, but in the 19th and early 20th cent. there was a great upsurge in Protestant missionary activity. Missionary work continues today, though it is often discouraged by the governments of former European colonies that have won independence.

U.S. Military Dictionary

1. The task, together with the purpose, that clearly indicates the action to be taken and the reason therefore. (JP 3-0) 2. In common usage, especially when applied to lower military units, a duty assigned to an individual or unit; a task. (JP 3-0) 3. The dispatching of one or more aircraft to accomplish one particular task. (JP 3-30)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a particular task or goal assigned to a person or group. b a journey undertaken as part of this. c a person's vocation (mission in life). 2 a military or scientific operation or expedition for a particular purpose. 3 a body of persons sent, esp. to a foreign country, to conduct negotiations etc. 4 a a body sent to propagate a religious faith. b a field of missionary activity. c a missionary post or organization. d a place of worship attached to a mission. 5 a particular course or period of preaching, services, etc., undertaken by a parish or community. Etymology: F mission or L missio f. mittere miss- send

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mission Mis"sion, n. [L. missio, fr. mittere, missum, to send: cf. F. mission. See Missile.] 1. The act of sending, or the state of being sent; a being sent or delegated by authority, with certain powers for transacting business; comission. Whose glorious deeds, but in these fields of late, Made emulous missions' mongst the gods themselves. --Shak. 2. That with which a messenger or agent is charged; an errand; business or duty on which one is sent; a commission. How to begin, how to accomplish best His end of being on earth, and mission high. --Milton. 3. Persons sent; any number of persons appointed to perform any service; a delegation; an embassy. In these ships there should be a mission of three of the fellows or brethren of Solomon's house. --Bacon. 4. An assotiation or organization of missionaries; a station or residence of missionaries. 5. An organization for worship and work, dependent on one or more churches. 6. A course of extraordinary sermons and services at a particular place and time for the special purpose of quickening the faith and zeal participants, and of converting unbelievers. --Addis & Arnold. 7. Dismission; discharge from service. [Obs.] Mission school. (a) A school connected with a mission and conducted by missionaries. (b) A school for the religious instruction of children not having regular church privileges. Syn: Message; errand; commission; deputation.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mission Mis"sion, v. t. To send on a mission. [Mostly used in the form of the past participle.] --Keats.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(missions) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A mission is an important task that people are given to do, especially one that involves travelling to another country. Salisbury sent him on a diplomatic mission to North America... ...the most crucial stage of his latest peace mission. N-COUNT: usu with supp 2. A mission is a group of people who have been sent to a foreign country to carry out an official task. ...a senior member of a diplomatic mission. = delegation N-COUNT: usu with supp 3. A mission is a special journey made by a military aeroplane or space rocket. ...a bomber that crashed during a training mission in the west Texas mountains. ...the first shuttle mission. N-COUNT: usu supp N 4. If you say that you have a mission, you mean that you have a strong commitment and sense of duty to do or achieve something. He viewed his mission in life as protecting the weak from the evil... = vocation N-SING: usu poss N, also n of N 5. A mission is the activities of a group of Christians who have been sent to a place to teach people about Christianity. They say God spoke to them and told them to go on a mission to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Commission, legation. 2. Charge, business, errand, office, duty, commission, trust. 3. Delegation, embassy, deputation, legation. 4. Missionary station. II. v. a. Commission, despatch, send forth.

Moby Thesaurus

accredit, action, activity, adventure, agency, agentship, aim, air cover, air raid, air support, allegiance, amphibious operations, art, assign, assigned task, assignment, authority, authorization, authorize, basilica, bethel, bombing, bounden duty, brevet, burden, business, busywork, call of duty, calling, care, career, career building, careerism, cathedral, cathedral church, chare, charge, charter, chore, church, church house, combined operations, commission, commissioning, commit, commitment, committee, consign, consignment, conventicle, cover, craft, cure, dedication, deference, delegate, delegated authority, delegation, deputation, depute, deputize, detach, detail, devoir, devolute, devolution, devolve, devolve upon, devolvement, devotion, dry run, duomo, duties and responsibilities, duty, embassy, empower, empowerment, emprise, entrust, entrusting, entrustment, errand, ethics, executorship, exequatur, exercise, expedition, exploration, factorship, fealty, fish to fry, fluid operations, full power, function, game, give in charge, group, handicraft, homage, homework, house of God, house of prayer, house of worship, imperative, job, job of work, jurisdiction, kirk, labor, legation, license, lieutenancy, lifework, line, line of business, line of duty, line of work, logistics, loyalty, make-work, mandate, maneuver, maneuvers, matters in hand, meetinghouse, metier, military operations, milk run, ministry, minor basilica, minor operations, movement, must, mystery, number, objective, obligation, occupation, odd job, office, onus, operation, operations, ought, overseas operations, patriarchal basilica, piece of work, pilgrimage, place, place of worship, plenipotentiary power, post, power of attorney, power to act, practice, procuration, profession, project, proxy, purpose, pursuit, purview, quest, racket, reconnaissance, reconnaissance mission, regency, regentship, respect, responsibility, scramble, self-imposed duty, send out, service, shuttle raid, sortie, specialization, specialty, staff work, stint, strafing, subcommittee, task, things to do, trade, training mission, transfer, trust, trusteeship, umbrella, undertaking, vicarious authority, vocation, walk, walk of life, war game, war plans, warrant, work