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mission

Syllabification: (mis·sion)
Pronunciation: /ˈmiSHən/
Translate mission | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of mission

noun

  • 1an important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes, typically involving travel:a trade mission to Mexico
  • [treated as singular or plural] a group of people sent on a mission:by then, the mission had journeyed more than 3,500 miles
  • [in singular] an organization or institution involved in a long-term assignment in a foreign country:the head of the West German mission
  • an operation carried out by military aircraft:he was shot down on a supply mission
  • an expedition into space.
  • 2the vocation or calling of a religious organization, especially a Christian one, to go out into the world and spread its faith:the Christian mission Gandhi’s attitude to mission and conversion
  • a building or group of buildings used by a Christian mission.
  • 3a strongly felt aim, ambition, or calling:his main mission in life has been to cut unemployment

Origin:

mid 16th century (denoting the sending of the Holy Spirit into the world): from Latin missio(n-), from mittere 'send'

mission in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of mission in the British & World English dictionary
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