mission

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a special assignment that is given to a person or group

   a confidential mission to London

2. 2
   noun

   an operation that is assigned by a higher headquarters

   the planes were on a bombing mission

3. 3
   noun

   A important goal or purpose; an objective.

   [She] made it her mission in life to make sure that no one around them would ever know the real truth. But this daughter of hers, she was a loose cannon, she was not someone to be trusted.[…]

4. 4
   noun

   A number of people appointed to perform any service; a delegation; an embassy.

   [I]n either of theſe Ships, there ſhould be a Miſsion of three of the Fellowes, or Brethren of Salomons Houſe; [...]

5. 5
   noun

   A settlement or building serving as a base for missionary work.

   Many cities across the Americas grew from Spanish missions.

6. 6
   noun

   An ordeal; an difficult, trying task.

   I was thinking like meat, [you could use this wooden device to] tenderize a steak ... but not into a wooden box, 'cause it's gonna be a mission to clean.

7. 7
   noun

   the organized work of a religious missionary

8. 8
   noun

   a group of representatives or delegates

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin missiō, missiōnem (“a sending, sending away, dispatching, discharging, release, remission, cessation”).