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.
He has been on a mission to help end the country's political crisis.
...the most crucial stage of his latest peace mission.
Synonyms: assignment, job, labour, operation More Synonyms of mission
2. countable noun
A mission is a group of people who have been sent to a foreign country to carry out an official task.
...the head of the mission in South Africa.
...a senior member of a diplomatic mission.
Synonyms: delegation, ministry, embassy, representation More Synonyms of mission
3. countable noun
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.
Synonyms: sortie, operation, raid More Synonyms of mission
4. singular noun [usually poss NOUN]
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.
There is an enormous sense of mission in his speech and gesture.
Synonyms: task, work, calling, business More Synonyms of mission
5. countable noun
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 countryin the Western Hemisphere.
6. countable noun
A mission is a building or group of buildings in which missionary work is carried out.
I reside at the mission at St Michael's.
...schools, monasteries and other mission buildings.
mission in British English
(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.
a.
a special embassy sent to a foreign country for a specific purpose
b. US
a permanent legation
5.
a.
a group of people sent by a religious body, esp a Christian church, to a foreign country to do religious and social work
b.
the campaign undertaken by such a group
6.
a.
the work or calling of a missionary
b.
a building or group of buildings in which missionary work is performed
c.
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 destitute or underprivileged people
10. (modifier)
of or relating to an ecclesiastical mission
a mission station
11. South Africa
a long and difficult process
12. (modifier) US
(of furniture) in the style of the early Spanish missions of the southwestern US
verb
13. (transitive)
to direct a mission to or establish a mission in (a given region)
Word origin
C16: from Latin missiō, from mittere to send
mission in American English
(ˈmɪʃən)
noun
1.
a sending out or being sent out with authority to perform a special service
; specif.,
a.
the sending out of persons by a religious organization to preach, teach, and convert
b.
the sending out of persons to a foreign government to conduct negotiations
c.
the work done by such persons
2.
a.
a group of persons sent by a religious body to spread its religion, esp. in a foreign land
b.
its organization, headquarters, or place of residency
c. [pl.]
organized missionary work
3.
a group of persons sent to a foreign government to conduct negotiations; diplomatic delegation; embassy
4.
a group of technicians, specialists, etc. sent to a foreign country
5.
the special duty or function for which someone is sent as a messenger or representative; errand
6.
the special task or purpose for which a person is apparently destined in life; calling
7.
any charitable, educational, or religious organization for helping persons in need
8.
a series of special religious services designed to increase faith or bring about conversion
9.
a district without a church of its own, served by a nearby church
10. US, Military
a specific combat operation assigned to an individual or unit; esp., a single combat flight by an airplane or group of airplanes
adjective
11.
of a mission or missions
12. US
of or in the style of the early Spanish missions in the SW U.S.; specif., designating a type of heavy, dark furniture with simple, square lines
verb transitive
13.
to send on a mission
14.
to establish a religious mission in (district) or among (a people)
Word origin
L missio, a sending, sending away < missus, pp. of mittere, to send < IE base *smeit-, to throw > Avestan hamista-, cast down
mission in American English
(ˈmɪʃən)
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.
a permanent diplomatic establishment abroad; embassy; legation
4. Military
an operational task, usually assigned by a higher headquarters
a mission to bomb the bridge
5. Aerospace
an operation designed to carry out the goals of a specific program
a space mission
6.
a group of persons sent by a church to carry on religious work, esp. evangelizationin foreign lands, and often to establish schools, hospitals, etc
7.
an establishment of missionaries in a foreign land; a missionary church or station
8.
a similar establishment in any region
9.
the district assigned to a missionary
10.
missionary duty or work
11.
an organization for carrying on missionary work
12. Also called: rescue mission
a shelter operated by a church or other organization offering food, lodging, and other assistance to needy persons
13. See missions
14.
a church or a region dependent on a larger church or denomination
15.
a series of special religious services for increasing religious devotion and converting unbelievers
to preach a mission
16.
an assigned or self-imposed duty or task; calling; vocation
17.
a sending or being sent for some duty or purpose
18.
those sent
adjective
19.
of or pertaining to a mission
20. (usually cap)
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
Also called (for defs. 3, 6): foreign mission
Derived forms
missional
adjective
Word origin
[1590–1600; 1925–30 for def. 4; ‹ L missiōn- (s. of missiō) a sending off, equiv. to miss(us) (ptp. of mittere to send) + -iōn--ion]
Mission in American English
(ˈmɪʃən)
noun
a city in S Texas. 22,589
Examples of 'mission' in a sentence
mission
None of their informers had come back with anything except some rubbish about a Goan student at the mission.
Robert Wilson THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS (2002)
Each mission had always been followed by intense analysis; what went wrong, what went right, the lessons for the future.
Mark Burnell CHAMELEON (2002)
Our mission is to assist you in distributing the GPS gear, which we can accomplish without ordnance.
Gregg Andrew Hurwitz MINUTES TO BURN (2002)
In other languages
mission
British English: mission NOUN
A mission is an important task that people are given to do, especially one that involves travelling to another country.
They sent him abroad on a diplomatic mission.
American English: mission
Brazilian Portuguese: missão
Chinese: > 使命尤指远赴他国的
European Spanish: misión
French: mission
German: Mission
Italian: missione
Japanese: 任務
Korean: 임무
European Portuguese: missão
Latin American Spanish: misión
Chinese translation of 'mission'
mission
(ˈmɪʃən)
n(c)
(= task) 任务(務) (rènwù) (项, xiàng)
(= aim) 使命 (shǐmìng) (个(個), gè)
(= official representatives) 代表团(團) (dàibiǎotuán) (个(個), gè)