mission

I. noun Etymology: New Latin, Medieval Latin, & Latin; New Latin mission-, missio religious mission, from Medieval Latin, task assigned, from Latin, act of sending, from mittere to send Date: 1530 1. obsolete the act or an instance of sending 2. a. a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work 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 d. plural organized missionary work e. a course of sermons and services given to convert the unchurched or quicken Christian faith 3. a body of persons sent to perform a service or carry on an activity: as a. a group sent to a foreign country to conduct diplomatic or political negotiations b. a permanent embassy or legation c. a team of specialists or cultural leaders sent to a foreign country 4. a. a specific task with which a person or a group is charged 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

> 5. calling, vocation II. transitive verb (missioned; missioning) Date: 1692 1. to send on or entrust with a mission 2. to carry on a religious mission among or in III. adjective Date: 1900 1. of or relating to a style used in the early Spanish missions of the southwestern United States <

mission architecture

> 2. of, relating to, or having the characteristic of a style of plain heavy usually oak furniture originating in the United States in the early part of the 20th century