Word
missionary
Phoneticsmis·sion·ary
US/ˈmɪʃəˌnɛɹi/
UK/mˈɪʃənəɹi/
Definitions
01religious messenger
n. a person who travels to a different place or country to teach their religion to others.
n. a person sent by a church or religious organisation into an area to spread its faith or provide social services.
“The missionary spent five years in the village building a school and teaching.”
“The missionary's journals provide a detailed, if biased, account of the indigenous customs and languages encountered during the nineteenth-century expedition.”
Synonyms
03relating to a mission
adj. connected to the work of a religious mission.
adj. pertaining to or characteristic of a religious mission or those sent to perform it.
“She felt a strong missionary calling to help people in developing countries.”
“The organisation's missionary zeal was often at odds with the secular goals of the local government.”
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“Rideout had been working in Niger as a Christian missionary for 19 years and was also a pilot for SIM International, which operates in more than 70 countries.” “An American missionary who was kidnapped in Niger in October has been released, his organisation has said.” Etymology
From mission + -ary.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related words
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/missionary