missionary

1 of 2

noun

mis·​sion·​ary ˈmi-shə-ˌner-ē 

plural missionaries

: a person undertaking a mission and especially a religious mission

Several years ago, when I was working as a reporter based in Haiti, I came upon a group of older Christian missionaries in the mountains above Port-au-Prince … They were there to build a school alongside a Methodist church.

—Jacob Kushner

Hawaiian Pidgin English developed during the 1800s and early 1900s, when immigrant laborers from China, Portugal, and the Philippines arrived to work in the plantations; American missionaries also came around that time.

—Alia Wong

missionary

2 of 2

adjective

1

: relating to, engaged in, or devoted to missions

2

: characteristic of a missionary

Did you know?

Beginning around 1540, an order of Catholic priests known as the Jesuits began to send its members to many parts of the world to convert peoples who believed in other gods to Christianity. Wherever they went, the Catholic missionaries built central buildings for their religious work, and the buildings themselves became known as missions; many 17th-century missions in the American West and Southwest are now preserved as museums. Their foes, the Protestants, soon began sending out their own missionaries, and today Protestant missionaries are probably far more numerous.

Examples of missionary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The event bears the influences of European missionaries, Chinese government policies, and cultural and economic interplay between villagers and outsiders. —Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 17 Dec. 2024

The Declaration in Script and Print: A Visual History of America’s Founding Document by John Bidwell Rozina Ali God’s Directive After the September 11 attacks, evangelical American missionaries followed military tanks into Afghanistan and Iraq to convert Muslims as part of a holy war. —The New York Review of Books, 1 Nov. 2024

Adjective

This one was constructed by the Rocky Mountain Raclette company as a springboard for Heather to discuss her Mormon missionary work in the south of France. —Kinsey Jasnoch, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2024

The White House announced Thursday that Nicaragua has agreed to release 135 political prisoners, including 13 affiliated with an Austin-area evangelical missionary church, in a deal brokered by the U.S. government. —Emiliano Tahui Gómez, Austin American-Statesman, 6 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1623, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1644, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing missionary

• missionary position
• missionary zeal

Kids Definition

missionary

1 of 2 adjective

mis·​sion·​ary ˈmish-ə-ˌner-ē 

1

: relating to, engaged in, or devoted to missions

2

: characteristic of a missionary : zealous

missionary

2 of 2 noun

plural missionaries

: one sent to spread a religious faith among unbelievers or to engage in charitable work with religious support