mission

¹

[mish-uhn]

noun

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.

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

[mish-uhn]

noun

1. a city in S Texas.

mission

/ 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

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• missional adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mission¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of mission¹

C16: from Latin missiō, from mittere to send

Example Sentences

But if you join la migra, the commercial asserts, cops can finally “catch the worst of the worst” and “join the mission to protect America.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Our mission has always been to provide a space for creators, innovators and thought leaders to gather and connect.”

From Los Angeles Times

After housing as many as 4,000 veterans early in the 20th century, the Soldier’s Home was shut down in the early 1970s as the VA shifted its mission to medical treatment.

From Los Angeles Times

She cited festivals in mission towns, such as Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days Fiesta, where people dress up like the Californios of yore to remember a romanticized era that was destined to end badly.

From Los Angeles Times

"Some leftist judge ruled implausibly that somehow Florida wasn't allowed to use our own property on this important mission because they didn't do an environmental impact statement," DeSantis said.

From BBC