Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A special assignment given to a person or group.
  • noun A combat operation assigned to a person or military unit.
  • noun An aerospace operation intended to carry out specific program objectives.
  • noun An ambition or purpose that is assumed by a person or group.
  • noun A body of persons sent to conduct negotiations or establish relations with a foreign country.
  • noun The business with which such a body of persons is charged.
  • noun A permanent diplomatic office abroad.
  • noun A body of experts or dignitaries sent to a foreign country.
  • noun A body of persons sent to a foreign land by a religious organization, especially a Christian organization, to spread its faith or provide educational, medical, and other assistance.
  • noun A mission established abroad.
  • noun The district assigned to a mission worker.
  • noun A building or compound housing a mission.
  • noun An organization for carrying on missionary work in a territory.
  • noun Missionary duty or work.
  • noun A Christian church or congregation with no cleric of its own that depends for support on a larger religious organization.
  • noun A welfare or educational organization established for the needy people of a district.
  • transitive verb To send (someone) on a mission.
  • transitive verb To organize or establish a religious mission among (a people) or in (an area).
  • adjective Of or relating to a mission.
  • adjective Of or relating to a style of architecture or furniture used in the early Spanish missions of California.
  • adjective Of or relating to a furniture style originating during the Arts and Crafts Movement and characterized by sturdy, angular, solid wood construction.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A sending of an agent or a messenger; a charge given to go and perform some service; delegation for a specific duty or purpose: as, to be sent on a mission to a foreign government, or to the heathen.
  • noun That for which one is sent or commissioned; the power conferred or duty imposed on an envoy or messenger; a delegated business or function; an errand.
  • noun Hence That for which a person or thing is destined or designed; predestined function; determinate purpose or object.
  • noun An organized effort for the spread of religion, or for the enlightenment and elevation of some community or region; organized missionary effort; religious propagaudism: as, Christian missions; the home and foreign missions of the Presbyterian Church; domestic missions; the city mission.
  • noun In the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, a series of special religious services organized to quicken the piety of Christians and convert the impenitent. The person appointed to conduct such a mission is termed a missioner.
  • noun A particular field of missionary activity; a missionary post or station, or the body of missionaries established there; a center of organized missionary effort or of religious propagandism; specifically, in the Roman Catholic Church, the district assigned to a missionary priest.
  • noun The office or establishment of a foreign envoy; the charge or post of an ambassador; a foreign legation: as, the mission to Persia; the members of the British mission at Washington.
  • noun Dismission; discharge from service.
  • noun Synonyms Office, duty, charge, embassy.
  • To send on a mission; commission.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb Mostly used in the form of the past participle. To send on a mission.
  • noun The act of sending, or the state of being sent; a being sent or delegated by authority, with certain powers for transacting business; comission.
  • noun That with which a messenger or agent is charged; an errand; business or duty on which one is sent; a commission.
  • noun Persons sent; any number of persons appointed to perform any service; a delegation; an embassy.
  • noun An assotiation or organization of missionaries; a station or residence of missionaries.
  • noun An organization for worship and work, dependent on one or more churches.
  • noun 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.
  • noun obsolete Dismission; discharge from service.
  • noun A school for the religious instruction of children not having regular church privileges.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable A set of tasks that fulfills a purpose or duty; an assignment set by an employer.
  • noun uncountable Religious evangelism.
  • noun uncountable (the missions) collective term for third world charities, particularly those which preach as well as provide aid.
  • noun countable (Catholic tradition) an infrequent gathering of religious believers in a parish, usually part of a larger regional event with a central theme.
  • verb transitive To send to a mission.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an organization of missionaries in a foreign land sent to carry on religious work
  • noun a special assignment that is given to a person or group

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, from Latin missiō, missiōn-, from missus, past participle of mittere, to send off.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French mission ("a sending, a mission"), Old French mission ("expense"), from Latin missiō ("a sending, sending away, dispatching, discharging, release, remission, cessation"), from mittō ("to send").

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Examples

  • For more information about our mission, see the �mission� section, immediately below, on this page.

    Chicago Indymedia 2009

  • The farthest North humans have gotten pre-searing is shown in The Flight North mission * Gwen's BMP mission*, which is right at the boarder of seared land and lush green.

    The Unofficial GuildWars Site 2008

  • Our main mission is to destroy the capabilities of AQ/Taliban.

    Matthew Yglesias » Afghan Public Opinion Turning Around 2010

  • Winner of impressive awards, their main mission is to constantly conduct research in order to come up with new and improved “intelligent solutions”.

    Awesome Sculptural Home in Somosaguas : Spain 2009

  • It is for this reason that, without reference to obedience, the term mission becomes difficult to understand and is exposed to the risk of being reduced to something that refers only to those developing the mission.

    Archive 2008-06-01 papabear 2008

  • “The main mission is [vaccine] development for the American war fighter,” says Colonel Samuel Martin, commander of Walter Reed in Kenya.

    Containment Strategy 2006

  • Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family.

    February 2006 2006

  • June 15th, 2006 at 11: 16 am amy says: absolutely. their main mission is only to keep the issue on the front page thru the 08 elections. which they will one way or another. whether some people like it or not it is an imortant issue to them. and there are millions of them. and they vote

    Think Progress » Religious Right Seeks Unprecedented Constitutional Convention To Ban Gay Marriage Without Congress 2006

  • “The main mission is [vaccine] development for the American war fighter,” says Colonel Samuel Martin, commander of Walter Reed in Kenya.

    Containment Strategy 2006

  • It's hard to believe that the Bush operatives -- whose main mission is politics not policy -- would not abuse their power.

    01/08/2006 2006

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