missionary

[mish-uh-ner-ee]

noun

plural

missionaries 

1. a person sent by a church into an area to carry on evangelism or other activities, as educational or hospital work.

   There are opportunities for student missionaries living abroad to work with people in need of aid, participate in building projects, and share the Gospel.

2. a person strongly in favor of a program, set of principles, etc., who attempts to persuade or convert others.

3. a person who is sent on a mission.

4. missionary position.

adjective

1. pertaining to or connected with religious missions.

2. engaged in such a mission or devoted to work connected with missions.

3. reflecting or prompted by the desire to persuade or convert others.

   the missionary efforts of political fanatics.

4. characteristic of a missionary.

   missionary zeal.

5. relating to or noting the missionary position.

   Then it was up to the bedroom for some good, old-fashioned missionary sex.

missionary

/ ˈmɪʃənərɪ /

noun

1. a member of a religious mission

adjective

1. of or relating to missionaries

   missionary work

2. resulting from a desire to convert people to one's own beliefs

   missionary zeal

Other Word Forms

• nonmissionary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of missionary¹

First recorded in 1625–35; from New Latin missiōnārius; mission, -ary

Example Sentences

The tánaiste described the missionary as a "respected humanitarian and deeply courageous person" who dedicated her life to support vulnerable people in Haiti.

From BBC

Nine people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, were kidnapped from an orphanage near Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince on Sunday, officials have said.

From BBC

Meanwhile, Boyle Heights’ Forsythe Memorial School for Girls, a Protestant missionary school that sought to Americanize Mexican girls, is also on the list of historic places.

From Los Angeles Times

Then the newcomers arrived — Spanish explorers, Catholic missionaries, Mexican rancheros, California settlers — and the Chumash way of life was dismantled, their people enslaved and their traditions, culture and language forbidden.

From Los Angeles Times

Staff detailed Spanish missionaries exploiting the work of Indigenous people in the Bay Area to build California missions and congressional actions stripping Coast Miwok people of title to their ancestral lands, including Muir Woods.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• clergy 
• evangelist 
• messenger 
• pastor 
• preacher 
• teacher