1
a
: a specific task with which a person or a group is charged
Their mission was to help victims of the disaster.
b(1)
: a definite military, naval, or aerospace task
a bombing mission
a space mission
(2)
: a flight operation of an aircraft or spacecraft in the performance of a mission
a mission to Mars
c
: a preestablished and often self-imposed objective or purpose
statement of the company's mission
3
: a body of persons sent to perform a service or carry on an activity: such as
a
: a group sent to a foreign country to conduct diplomatic or political negotiations
a member of a trade mission
c
: a team of specialists or cultural leaders sent to a foreign country
served on a mission to improve agricultural methods
4
a
: a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate (see propagate sense 3b) its faith or carry on humanitarian work
… there was a little port called Quinchang, where the fathers of the mission usually landed from Macao, on their progress to teach the Christian religion to the Chinese …—Daniel Defoe
b
: assignment to or work in a field of missionary enterprise
c(1)
: a mission establishment
(2)
: a local church or parish dependent on a larger religious organization for direction or financial support
Spanish missions in California
d
missions plural
: organized missionary work
e
: a course of sermons and services given to convert the unchurched or quicken Christian faith
a preaching mission
5
obsolete
: the act or an instance of sending
missioned; missioning
ˈmi-sh(ə-)niŋ
1
: to send on or entrust with a mission
2
: to carry on a religious mission among or in
1
: of or relating to a style used in the early Spanish missions of the southwestern U.S.
mission architecture
2
: of, relating to, or having the characteristic of a style of plain heavy usually oak furniture originating in the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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