| 释义 |
▪ I. mystery1|ˈmɪstərɪ|
Forms: 4 mystri, 4, 6 -y, 4–6 mist-, mysterye, 4–7 -ie, 5–9 mistery, 6 mystyry, mistirie, mistrie, mysteri, 4– mystery.
[a. AF. *misterie (OF. mistere, mod.F. mystère masc.), = It. misterio, mistero, Sp. mistério, Pg. mysterio, ad. L. mystērium, a. Gr. µυστήριον, f. *mū̆s-, root of µύειν to close (the lips or eyes): cf. µύστης mystes.
In classical Greek µυστήριον occurs chiefly in plural, denoting certain secret religious ceremonies (the most famous being those of Demeter at Eleusis) which were allowed to be witnessed only by the initiated, who were sworn never to disclose their nature. (See sense 9 below.) In the LXX the word occurs only in Daniel and the Apocrypha, where it has the sense of ‘secret purpose or counsel’ (esp. of a king or of God). This sense is found in the N.T., where the word also means sometimes a religious truth long kept secret, but now revealed through Christ to his Church, and sometimes anything that has a symbolic significance. In later Christian Greek µυστήριον became equivalent to sacrament (in several passages the Vulgate renders it by sacramentum, even when it means only ‘secret’; in other passages mysterium is retained). In OF. and English the Christian senses of the word naturally appear earliest.]
I. Theological uses.
†1.
a. in or through his mystery: in or by its mystical presence.
b. in (a) mystery: mystically.
c1315Shoreham Poems i. 672 Ac one gode aryȝt hyt nomeþ, Þat body ine hys mysterye. 14..Plowman's Tale 1219 His flesh and blood, through his mystry, Is there, in the forme of brede. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (1531) 31 God hath no suche bodyly membres, as this texte [Exodus xxxiii. 23] to the lettre dothe pretende to shewe: but all this was done in great mistery. 1533Frith Answ. More E 4 For we do yt not actualiye in dede, but onlye in a misterie. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 118 Whiche place..is to be understande in a mistery [L. mystice]. 1628Field's Of the Church iii. App. 205 The crucified body of Christ thy sonne, which is here present in mystery, and sacrament.
2. A religious truth known only from divine revelation; usually (cf. sense 5), a doctrine of the faith involving difficulties which human reason is incapable of solving.
1382Wyclif Rom. xvi. 25 The revelacioun of mysterie holdun stille..in tymes euerlastynge; the which mysterie is now maad opyn by scripturis of prophetis. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 238 Al mysteryes of the oold and newe lawe. 1513Douglas æneis vi. Prol. 143 The glorius modir..Quhilk of hir natur consavit Criste, and buir Al hail the misteris of the Trinite. 1549Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, By the misterye of thy holy incarnacion,..Good Lorde deliuer vs. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 82 They counte as Fables, the holie misteries of Christian Religion. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lii. §1 This diuine mysterie [of the Incarnation] is more true then plaine. 1720Swift Let. to Yng. Clergyman Wks. 1751 V. 24, I do not find, that you are any where directed in the Canons or Articles to attempt explaining the Mysteries of the Christian Religion. 1784Cowper Task ii. 528 'Tis revelation satisfies all doubts, Explains all mysteries, except her own. 1855Brewster Newton II. xxiv. 359 The investigation of the sacred mysteries, while it prepared his own mind for its final destiny, was calculated to promote the spiritual interests of thousands. 1894Illingworth Personality iii. 68 In the presence of a fact which..was a mystery—a thing which could be apprehended when revealed, but could neither be comprehended nor discovered.
3. A religious ordinance or rite, esp. a sacramental rite of the Christian religion; spec. (pl.) the Eucharist; occas. the consecrated elements.
1506Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W.) i. iii. C 8 Many of the mysteryes afore sayd be done at the chirche dore and not within y⊇ chirche. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1064 The mystery of the masse. 1549Bk. Com. Prayer, Matrimony, O God, which hast consecrated the state of matrimonie, to such an excellent misterie, that in it is signified and represented the spiritual mariage & vnitie betwixte Christ and his church. Ibid., Communion, Wee moste hartely thanke thee, for that thou hast vouchsafed to feede vs in these holy Misteries [1552 to fede vs, whiche haue duely receiued these holy misteries]. 1662J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 30 His mouth and nose were covered with a linen cloth, lest the impurity of his breath should profane the mystry. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 189 But seeing there is no Mystery in that Chappel, it is left without any Lamp, nay without any cross too. 1693W. W. tr. Dupin's Eccl. Hist. II. 108 note, Concerning the Holy Mysteries of the Altar. 1737Wesley in Wks. (1872) I. 54, I will administer to you the mysteries of God. 1850Neale Hist. East. Ch. i. 1013 In proceeding to the consideration of the three next mysteries of the Eastern Church, penance, matrimonial coronation, and the prayer-oil. 1854Milman Lat. Chr. iii. vii. (1864) II. 155 Within [the sacred edifices] were the reliques of the tutelar saint, the mysteries and the presence of the Redeemer.
4. An incident in the life of our Lord or of the Saints regarded as an object of commemoration in the Christian church or as having a mystical significance. Hence, each of the fifteen divisions of the rosary corresponding to the ‘mysteries of redemption’.
1655Jer. Taylor Golden Grove 57 Meditate on the passion of our blessed Saviour and all the mysteries of our Redemption. Ibid. 59 Upon the Holy-days..let the matter of your meditations be according to the mystery of the day. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 195 We went in Procession through all the Sanctuaries of the great Church, where all the mysteries of the Passion were represented to the Life. 1705Nelson Fest. & Fasts Prelim. Instr. 8 If we commemorate any Mystery of our Redemption. 1835Penny Cycl. IV. 79/1 A chaplet..divided into three sets, white, red, and damask roses, corresponding to the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries. 1852A. Jameson Leg. Madonna Introd. p. lxi, Another cycle of subjects consists of the fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary.
II. Non-theological uses.
5. a. A hidden or secret thing; a matter unexplained or inexplicable; something beyond human knowledge or comprehension; a riddle or enigma.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 1194 To þat pryncez paye hade I ay bente..To mo of his mysterys I hade ben dryuen. 1382Wyclif Dan. ii. 27 The mysterie whiche the kyng axith, the wise men..mown not shewe to the kyng. c1400Apol. Loll. 44 Daniel, ouercomer of lyowns, saw misteris of priui þingis. c1550Cheke Matt. xiii. 11 A mysteri is a secret and an hiden thing, which ought not to be schewed abrood. 1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. ii. ii, To meditate Vpon the difference of mans estate: Where is deciphered to true iudgements eye A deep, conceald, and precious misterie. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 27 The great interpreter of the mysteries of Nature. 1731Bailey vol. II, Mysteries (in Numbers), the number 5 multiplied by 5, makes 25; and 4 multiplied by 4, makes 16; and 3 multiplied by 3, makes 9; but 9 and 16 is equal to 25. 1742Young Nt. Th. vii. 501 'Tis immortality decyphers man, And opens all the myst'ries of his make. 1821Byron Two Foscari ii. i, Doge. I am what you behold. Mar. And that's a mystery. 1836Macgillivray Trav. Humboldt xviii. 246 There are mysteries in the affections and hatreds of animals. 1867Duke of Argyll Reign of Law i. 15 The relation in which God stands to those rules of His government which are called ‘laws’, is, of course, an inscrutable mystery to us. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. (1875) III. xii. 85 There was a mystery about the marriage. 1870Dickens (title) The Mystery of Edwin Drood. 1892Westcott Gospel of Life 1 [Christianity] does not introduce fresh mysteries into the world: it meets mysteries which already exist.
†b. A personal secret. Obs.
1529More Dyaloge i. Wks. 124/2 Let y⊇ knowlege of the father alone therefore amonge our wifes misteryes. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 382 You would pluck out the heart of my Mysterie. 1604― Oth. iv. ii. 30. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 13 The servant answered that the old woman was in bed and that he knew not the mystery, whether any eggs were in the house or no.
c. A political or diplomatic secret; a secret of state. Obs. exc. as a contextual use of the general sense. [Cf. F. mystère d'état.]
a1618Raleigh Maxims of State (1642) 9 Mysteries or Sophismes of State, are certaine secret practizes, either for the avoiding of danger; or averting such effects as tend to the preservation of the present State, as it is set or founded. 1622Bacon Hen. VII 43 Touching the Mysterie of reannexing of the Duchy of Britainie to the Crowne of France..the Ambassadours bare aloofe from it. 1658–9Chaloner in Burton's Diary (1828) III. 130 Every secretary ought to write what is to pass a Parliament, not as he writes his mysteries. a1704T. Brown Praise Poverty Wks. 1730 I. 89 Half-politicians maxims called mysteries of state. 1857Buckle Civiliz. I. xii 668 They heard..mysteries of state and mysteries of creed unfolded..to the popular gaze.
d. to make a mystery of: to treat as a secret; to keep (a thing) secret in order to make an impression. [Cf. F. faire (un) mystère de.]
1634W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. iii. x. 248, I cannot..make of euery meane matter a mystery by whispering it in the eare. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 2 Making a mystery of nothing, and frankly discoursing with any man upon what Subject he proposes. 1720Ozell tr. Vertot's Rom. Rep. I. iv. 196 The Consuls always made a Mystery to the People of those first Elements of their Juris-Prudence. 1834H. Martineau Farrers iii. 35 He made no mysteries, but told all that he was asked to tell. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 578 As manufacturers make no mystery of this matter, any person may have an opportunity of inspecting the operation. 1841Borrow Zincali I. ii. 1 58 Nor did he make a mystery of his knowledge, but publicly boasted of it.
¶e. The biblical phrase mystery of iniquity [Vulg. Mysterium iniquitatis, Gr. τὸ µυστήριον τῆς ἀνοµίας], by association with various senses of this word, has been used in many different applications.
1382Wyclif 2 Thess. ii. 7 Forwhi the mysterie, or priuyte, of wickidnesse worchith now [1526 Tindale the mistery off iniquytie]. 1545Bale (title) A mysterye of inyqyte contayned within the heretycall Genealogye of Ponce Pantolabus. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 571 If I might, with the Readers patience, I would adde somewhat of their Mysterie of iniquitie, and the mysticall sense of this iniquitie. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. vii. 24 If God had not given them over to thraldom under that mistery of iniquity, of sinful man aspiring into the place of God. 1756Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. 38 The Whole of this Mystery of Iniquity is called the Reason of State. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 52 This mystery of iniquity [sc. a plot against William III] has..been gradually unveiling. 1884Pall Mall G. 28 Aug. 3/2 The great city [of London] is full of many mysteries—not a few of them..mysteries of iniquity.
6. In generalized sense.
a. The condition or property of being secret or obscure; mysteriousness. Also, mysteries collectively, mysterious matter.
Phrase, wrapped in mystery.
1601Shakes. All's Well v. iii. 103 Platus himselfe,..Hath not in natures mysterie more science, Then I haue in this Ring. 1742Young Nt. Th. vii. 134 And virtue vies with hope in mystery. 1788Reid Aristotle's Log. iv. §2. 74 This is the mystery contained in the vowels of those barbarous words. 1818Coleridge Friend I. xiii. 161 The mystery and the dignity of our human nature. 1835Thirlwall Greece vi. I. 247 The origin of the Homeric poetry is wrapt in mystery. 1856Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 467 Everywhere, skin deep below our boasted science, we are brought up short by mystery impalpable. 1865G. Macdonald A. Forbes 18 In all the enhancing mystery of candlelight. 1883H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. Introd. 28 A Science without mystery is unknown; a Religion without mystery is absurd.
b. The behaviour or attitude of mind of one who makes a secret of things (often intrinsically unimportant) usually for the purpose of exercising undue power or influence.
1692Dryden St. Euremont's Ess. 309 Questions, which should be handled with a great deal of Mystery and Secrecy. 1726Swift Gulliver ii. vii, He professed..to..despise all Mystery, Refinement, and Intrigue, either in a Prince or a Minister. 1821Byron Mar. Fal. iii. ii, Israel, speak; what means this mystery? 1832tr. Sismondi's Ital. Rep. ix. 218 The senate joined to this rigour the perfidy and mystery which characterise an aristocracy.
†7. Obscure or mysterious reason; hidden or mystic meaning. Obs.
14..in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 134 Grete mystery is in both tweyne: The toon [turtle] comendyd for his chastite And the tother [dove]..Is symple and meke. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 103 Seynte Mathewe th' Euangeliste assignethe xiiij. generaciones, for the cause of a certeyne mistery [Trevisa: som priue menynge]. 1591Harington Orl. Fur. Pref. ⁋iv, The ancient Poets haue..wrapped..in their writings diuers..meanings, which they call the sences or mysteries thereof. 1598Barret Theor. Warres iv. i. 100 Is there any meaning or misterie in marching the left or right side shot before in the vantgard? 1658Sir T. Browne Hydriot. iii. 30 Most [urns] imitate a circular figure..whether from any mystery, best duration or capacity, were but a conjecture. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 82 Nor shall I speak of their Sacerdotal Vestments, which have their Mysteries.
8. An action or practice about which there is, or is supposed to be, some secrecy; a ‘secret’ or highly technical operation in a trade or art. Now often trivial. (Cf. mystery2 2 a and b.)
1594Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. (1598) B 2, He was the first man that euer instructed me in the mysterie of a pot of Ale. 1607Norden Surv. Dial. i. 6 And of whom such land is holden, the same is called the Lord of that land after a sort [etc.]..as if you be so willing as you seeme to talke of these mysteries, you shall anon perceiue. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 80 They forbad the English..to dwell in Poland..lest they should..find the mysteries of the trade. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 61 The Mystery of his Art and Science, consists in a long List of Fustian Words and Phrases. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. 263, I let him into the Mystery, for such it was to him, of Gunpowder and Bullet. 1808H. More Cœlebs I. xxi. 305 No man is allowed to set up in an ordinary trade till he has served a long apprenticeship to its mysteries. 1827Disraeli Viv. Grey v. v, The mysteries of rouge et noir. 1837― Venetia i. ix, Harassed with all the mysteries of packing.
9. a. Chiefly pl. In the religious systems of Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, etc., certain secret rites to which only the initiated were admitted.
1643[see Eleusinian]. 1738Warburton Div. Legat. ii. iv. (1846) 194 The first and original Mysteries, of which we have any sure account, were those of Isis and Osiris in Egypt. 1849Grote Greece ii. lxiv. (1862) V. 484 Until that day of the month Boedromion (about the beginning of September) when the Eleusinian mysteries were celebrated.
b. The secrets of freemasonry.
1738J. Anderson Const. Fratern. Free Masons 150 The G. Master shall ask his Deputy, if he..finds the Candidate Master well skill'd in the Noble Science and the Royal Art, and duly instructed in our Mysteries? 1872C. I. Paton Freemasonry ii. i. 50 Every candidate for initiation into the mysteries of Freemasonry.
10. Used by modern writers (after F. mystère, med.L. mystērium) as a name for the miracle-play.
A distinction has been drawn by some writers between ‘mystery’ and ‘miracle-play’ (see quot. 1875), but this is not generally accepted.[This sense has been often erroneously referred to mystery2 on the ground of the undoubted fact that the miracle-plays were often acted by the mysteries or trade guilds.] 1744Dodsley O. Pl. I. Pref. p. xiii, The mysteries only represented in a senseless manner some miraculous History from the Old or New Testament. 1773J. Hawkins Orig. Eng. Drama Pref. p. vii, One of the first improvements on the old Mystery was the Allegorical Play, or Morality. 1821Scott Kenilw. xvii, My wife, sir, hath played the devil ere now, in a Mystery, in Queen Mary's time. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. xx. (1846) II. 211 The sacred plays, or mysteries, so popular throughout Europe, in the middle ages. 1875A. W. Ward Eng. Dram. Lit. I. 23 Properly speaking, Mysteries deal with Gospel events only... Miracle Plays, on the other hand, are concerned with incidents derived from the legends of the saints of the Church.
11. = medicine n. 4, 4 b. (Cf. mystery-man.)
1841Catlin N. Amer. Indians I. xii. 87 The whole village..with..its medicines (or mysteries) and scalp-poles waving over my head. Ibid. xv. 106, I..have been regularly installed medicine or mystery.
12. In technical use.
a. A kind of fly for salmon fishing.
b. An alloy of platinum, tin, and copper, imitating gold.
c. A kind of plum cake.
d. Shortened form of bag of mystery (bag n. 18 b). slang.
e. A girl newly arrived in a town or city; a girl with no fixed address; a young or inexperienced prostitute. slang.
f. A mystery story.
a.1867F. Francis Angling xi. (1880) 427 No. 1 is called The Mystery. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXV. 446/1 Lightly dressed flies..such as the Sun-fly and the Mystery.
b.1885Standard 8 Apr. 6/4 There was not a particle of gold in it. It was made of a composition called ‘mystery’, composed of platinum, tin, and copper.
c.1889R. Wells Bread & Biscuit Baker's Assist. 58 Mystery or Cheap Plum Cake at 3d. per lb. 8 lbs. of common flour, 3 lbs. of brown sugar, 1 lb. of lard [etc.].
d.a1890G. Horncastle in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang (1890) II. 79/2 The peelers I scorn and defy, While strings of these mysteries I wave round my head, And then to the people I cry, ‘Sassidges, oh, sassidges! Oh, beef and pork and German!’
e.1937J. Worby Other Half 278 Mystery, a girl who is down and out, come to town to look for a job. 1955C. H. Rolph Women of Streets x. 120 When you're a new girl they call you a ‘mystery’. And you're a mystery until you've been here three or four years. Then you become a ‘history’. 1960Observer 28 Feb. 23/4 Many teddys, tearaways and mysteries (drifting girls) are put off by the typical orthodox youth club. 1960C. MacInnes Mr Love & Justice 19 ‘All those men. Maybe two or three a day...’ ‘Two or three? Are you kidding? What you take me for—a mystery?’ 1962R. Cook Crust on its Uppers (1964) iv. 37 ‘I Saw a Human Monster in My Bedroom, says Teenager’..means the little mystery's woken up when she wasn't supposed to. 1967M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene 117 Mystery, girl (young) having left home on arrival in London. 1974G. F. Newman Price v. 169 Instead of calling a couple of mysteries, he called a cab.
f.1973Directory of Dealers in Secondhand & Antiquarian Bks. in Brit. Isles 1973–75 111 Fantasy, scientific romance, Gothic novel, mystery and detective.
III. 13. attrib., as mystery-monger, mystery-priest; mystery-mongering adj. and n.; mystery-piety; mystery-bag = bag of mystery (bag n. 18 b); mystery gold = 11 b; mystery-man, (a) one who works or has to do with ‘mysteries’, esp. a conjuror, a medicine-man; (b) a man about whom little is known; mystery-play = sense 10; mystery-religion (see quot. 1967); mystery ship, an armed and camouflaged merchantman used in the war of 1914–18 as a decoy or to destroy submarines; mystery story, a detective or crime story; mystery tour, a pleasure trip for which there is no advance announcement of the places to be visited; mystery train, a train taking passengers on a mystery tour; mystery trip = mystery tour; mystery woman, a woman about whom little is known; mystery writer, a writer of mystery stories.
1889Sportsman 2 Feb. 4/1 But the ‘*mystery-bags’ of Sieur X, if we are to believe the common report, were far from being fragrant. This gentleman has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment for ‘making sausages of tainted meat’.
1887J. Hutchison Pract. Banking III. 681 note, A great number of spurious sovereigns and half-sovereigns are in circulation... Those made of ‘*mystery gold’..stand the tests of the ordinary acids.
1841Catlin N. Amer. Indians I. vi. 39 Their physicians, who are also medicine (or *mystery) men. 1865J. Bright in Daily Tel. 13 July, Mr. Disraeli..is what among a tribe of Indians would be called the ‘mystery man’. 1910Encycl. Brit. III. 570/1 ‘Adventurer’, as applied to Disraeli, was a mere term of abuse. ‘Mystery-man’ had much of the same intention, but in a blameless though not in a happy sense it was true of him to the end of his days. 1933H. G. Wells Shape of Things to Come i. 112 That Mystery Man of Mystery Men, Sir Basil Zaharoff, the armaments salesman. 1972G. Lyall Blame Dead ii. 10 You sounded a bit of a mystery man in those stories this morning—they'll want to know more.
1772Nugent Hist. Fr. Gerund II. 362 He was..a whisperer, and a *mystery-monger. 1885Expositor 1 Sept. 191 We are no muttering mystery-mongers.
1901W. James Mem. & Stud. (1911) vii. 150 With all these things, infected by their previous *mystery-mongering discoverers, even our best friends had rather avoid complicity. 1912Mrs. R. Davids Buddhism i. 20 There is no evidence..that this late recourse to writing was due to any mystery-mongering or esotericism. 1939Dylan Thomas Let. 29 Sept. (1966) 240 Censorship and conscription, mystery-mongering and umbrella-worship.
1939P. S. Watson tr. Nygren's Agape & Eros II. ii. iii. 355 Neoplatonism..to a large extent bears the stamp of *Mystery-piety.
1852Yonge Cameos IV. ix. (1877) 108 Keillar was summoned before Cardinal Beaton..for having written a *mystery-play.
1751G. Lavington Enthus. Meth. & Papists iii. 385 Jannes and Jambrees, who opposed Moses..when the Jews were expelled Egypt, were Egyptian *Mystery-Priests.
1913H. A. A. Kennedy St. Paul & Mystery-Religions III. 69 There are special strains of religious thought and feeling more or less common to all the *Mystery-Religions, such as that of regeneration (in some sense) and union or communion with deity. Ibid. 86 This connection with Dionysus leads us into the heart of conceptions typical for mystery-religion, the conception of union with the Divine and attainment of undying life. 1925S. Angus Mystery-Religions & Christianity ii. 45 A Mystery-Religion was (1) a religion of symbolism which, through myth and allegory, iconic representations, blazing lights and dense darkness, liturgies and sacramental acts, and suggestion..provoked in the initiate a mystical experience conducing to palingenesia (regeneration), the object of every initiation. Ibid. 50 II. A Mystery-Religion was a religion of Redemption which professed to remove estrangement between man and God. Ibid. 52 III. The Mystery-Religions were systems of Gnosis akin, and forming a stage to, those movements to which the name of Gnosticism became attached. 1967D. T. Kauffman Dict. Relig. Terms 322/1 Mystery religions, secret cults in pre-Christian Greek and Roman culture, as well as in areas of Egypt and Asia... The mystery religions included the Orphic, Eleusinian, Mithraic.
1914Daily Mail (Greater Manchester ed.) 7/4 The grey, gaunt outline of the *mystery ship took definite shape. 1925Mystery ship [see decoy n.2 6]. 1975B. Meyrick Behind Light xvi. 207 The crew of Mystery Ship 51 listened as the warning boom of their foghorn echoed..through..the Dover Straits.
1908Chesterton All Things Considered 115 *Mystery stories are very popular, especially when sold at sixpence. 1932H. Crane Let. 20 Mar. (1965) 404 Even the suspense of the usual mystery story utilizes that device. 1934Mystery story [see crime-story]. 1974A. Price Other Paths i. vii. 86 You've been holding on to the book... I can't wait to hear your mystery story.
1947J. Betjeman in Strand Mag. Aug. 41 The morning paddle, then the *mystery tour By motor-coach inland this afternoon. 1973C. Bonington Next Horizon vii. 105 Climbing with Tom Patey was a kind of Magical Mystery Tour, in which no one, except perhaps himself, knew what was coming next.
1933H. A. Piehler England for Everyman 35 Recent enterprises include ‘*mystery’ trains for hikers, bound for unknown destinations, and circular tours by special trains through beautiful scenery.
1958Listener 23 Oct. 653/2 An enterprising char-à-banc proprietor advertised ‘*mystery trips’.
1913R. C. Praed (title) The *mystery woman. 1922M. Arlen Piracy 321 The Daily Mail at once called her a ‘mystery woman’. 1974‘A. Gilbert’ Nice Little Killing ix. 127 It was something she couldn't afford to be made public... Mrs Brown was the original mystery woman.
1942Amer. Speech XVII. 3 Most of this [sc. slang and cant] I have excluded,..because it is already rather thoroughly recorded in the special dictionaries, out of which, no doubt, the *mystery-writers took it in the first place. 1973N.Y. Times 1 Aug. 37/1 Good mystery writers have always known that man himself is the greatest mystery of all.
▪ II. mystery2|ˈmɪstərɪ|
Forms: as in prec. Also 9 arch. mistery.
[ad. med.L. misterium, altered form of ministerium (mister n.1) by confusion with mystērium mystery1. In senses 2–4 there was prob. confusion with maistrie, mastery.
In med.L. mistera was a form commonly used with senses 2 and 3.]
†1.
a. Service, occupation; office, ministry. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋821 Preestes been aungeles, as by the dignitee of hir misterye. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 195 Paphnucius goenge to visitte a broþer laborynge in infirmite, causede the sonne to stonde stille thro his preyer, un tille that he hade fullefillede his mistery. 1509Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 309 [She] was borne vp in to the countre aboue with the blessyd aungelles deputed..to that holy mystery. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. K vii b, None should be taken from the misterie and office that he occupied.
†b. Something helpful. Obs.
1581Mulcaster Positions xxxiv. 122 We..may not neglect so great a misterie for our owne health, as exercise is.
2. a. Handicraft; craft, art; (one's) trade, profession, or calling. Now arch.
The identity of the word in the first quot. is doubtful; cf. the variants.
a1375Cursor M. 13142 (Fairf.) Ho daunsed & sange to tumble with-al,..for ho sa wele hir mystri [Cott. mister, Gött. maistri] couþe. c1440Gesta Rom. xliii. 171 (Harl. MS.) He sente messageris..to loke yf eny swiche myght be founde, þat coude make swiche a shirte, but they coude fynde noon, but that they wer..vncunnynge in the mystery. 1536Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 27 Brought up in some good literature occupacion or misterie. c1550Disc. Common Weal Eng. (1893) 128 Bristowe had a greate trade by making of poyntes, and was the cheifest misterie that was exercised in the towne. 1594West 2nd Pt. Symbol. §220 Unto the name of the partie indicted must be vnited the addition of his estate, degree, or misterie. 1609Tourneur Funeralle Poeme Wks. 1878 I. 179 And out of his owne morall character He might have learn'd his mysterie of warre. 1612Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) Pref. 1 That noble Science or Mystery of the healing mans body. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. iv. §41 That great and admirable mystery, the Law. a1661Fuller Worthies (1662) I. xvi. 48 Seeing the whole mistery of Heraldry dwells more in the region of fancie, than judgment. 1727–52Chambers Cycl., Additions of Mystery, are such as scrivener, painter, mason, and the like. 1756Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. 33 The Invention of Men has been sharpening and improving the Mystery of Murder. 1800Coleridge Piccolom. i. ii, The sum of war's whole trade and mystery. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. vi. (1876) I. 326 Those arts of management which his successors have always reckoned so essential a part of their mystery. 1872Tennyson Last Tourn. 327 Thy Paynim bard Had such a mastery of his mystery That he could harp his wife up out of hell. 1889‘Mark Twain’ Conn. Yank. xxxii. 367 A good blacksmith..[offered]..to..teach him the trade—or ‘mystery’, as Dowley called it. 1957Listener 25 July 141/1 We usually start with some sort of prejudice against the verse-writer who is better known as a writer of prose: there is a (very proper) feeling that the two are different mysteries.
b. art and mystery: a formula usually employed in the indentures by which apprentices are bound to a trade; also transf. (Cf. mystery1 8.)
1627Borough Deeds Maldon (Essex) Bundle 148 No. 5 [To] instruct the said John Wormell in the said science mistery and trade of a woollen draper. 1660R. May (title) The Accomplisht Cook, or the art and mystery of cookery [etc.]. 1680Cotton (title) The Compleat Gamester... To which is Added, The Arts and Mysteries of Riding [etc.]. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. 426 This is usually done to persons of trade, in order to learn their art and mystery. 1856Bouvier Law Dict. II. 196/2 Masters..bind themselves in the indentures with their apprentices to teach them their art, trade, and mystery.
†c. Skill, art. Obs.
1601Shakes. All's Well iii. vi. 68 If you thinke your mysterie in stratagem, can bring this instrument of honour againe into his natiue quarter. 1624Ford & Dekker Sun's Darling iv. i. (1656) 33 Mistery there, like to another nature, Confects the substance of the choisest fruits, In a rich candy. 1661T. Campion Setting of Mus. in Playford Skill Mus. (1662) 95 We must consider whether the Bass doth rise or fall, for in that consists the mystery.
3. A trade guild or company. arch. or Hist.
14..Rolls of Parlt. V. 390/2 By the sight of Men of the same Misterie. a1500Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.) Banes 59 That by twentye fower occupations, artes, craftes or misterie, these pagente shulde be played. 1530in S. Young Ann. Barber-Surgeons (1890) 579 The Maisters and Wardens of the misterie or Crafte of Barbor Surgions of the Citie of London. 1553in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 259 M. Sebastian Cabota..gouernour of the mysterie and companie of the Marchants aduenturers. 1618in Rymer Fœdera (1710) XVII. 78 The Master and Wardens of the Misterie of Stationers. 1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. iii. x. 29 Each Company or Mystery hath a Master annually chosen from among themselves. 1823Scott Quentin D. xix, President of the mystery of the workers in iron.
4. attrib.: † mystery-man nonce-wd. (see quot.).
1626Bacon New Atl. (1650) 33 Wee have Three that Collect the Experiments of all Mechanicall Arts; And also of Liberall Sciences; [etc.]... These we [sc. the people of ‘New Atlantis’] call Mystery-men. |