See Also: Missionary(medicine)
missionary(1)(dictionary)
missionary(2)(dictionary)
missionary position(dictionary)
missionary 2, adjective(dictionary)
missionary 1, noun(dictionary)
Missionary Work(money)
Missionary Aviation(tourism)
Missionary Aviation code(tourism)
Missionary Aviation flights(tourism)

missionary(1) (iou)



missionary adjective & noun. M17.
[mod. Latin missionarius (whence also French missionnaire), from Latin missio(n-): see MISSION noun, -ARY1.]
A. adjective.
Of or pertaining to religious missions; sent on or engaged in a mission; characteristic of a person sent on or engaged in a religious mission. M17.
Max-Musc;ller The three missionary religions, Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and Christianity. Company He obviously has a missionary zeal to clean and tidy up other people's lives.
Sent out. Now obsolete exc. poet. L17.
S. Dobell The night..calling By missionary winds and twilight birds.
b. noun.
A person sent on or engaged in a religious mission, esp. one sent to propagate the (Christian) faith in a foreign country; a person engaged in missionary work. M17.
home missionary, city missionary, etc. transf.: Listener The latest missionary for F. R. Leavis's organic community.
M. Angelou If more Africans had eaten more missionaries, the Continent would be in better shape.
An agent, an emissary; esp. a person sent on a political mission. Now rare or obsolete. L17.
A missionary body or establishment. E-M18.
The sweet-brier, Rosa rubiginosa, introduced to New Zealand by missionaries and now an invasive weed. NZ. L19.
Comb. & special collocations: missionary box: for the reception of contributions to the funds of a missionary society; missionary position colloq. the position for sexual intercourse in which the woman lies underneath the man and facing him.
missionarize verb intrans. do missionary work E19.
missionaryship noun the position or status of a missionary M19.