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MISSIONARY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Someone who attempts to convert others to a particular doctrine or program
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("missionary" is a kind of...):
instructor; teacher (a person whose occupation is teaching)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "missionary"):
Cyril; Saint Cyril; St. Cyril (Greek missionary; the invention of the Cyrillic alphabet is attributed to him (826-869))
Instance hyponyms:
Apostle of Germany; Boniface; Saint Boniface; St. Boniface; Winfred; Wynfrith ((Roman Catholic Church) Anglo-Saxon missionary who was sent to Frisia and Germany to spread the Christian faith; was martyred in Frisia (680-754))
David Livingstone; Livingstone (Scottish missionary and explorer who discovered the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls (1813-1873))
Marcus Whitman; Whitman (United States frontier missionary who established a post in Oregon where Christianity and schooling and medicine were available to Native Americans (1802-1847))
Saint Francis Xavier; Xavier (Spanish missionary and Jesuit who established missionaries in Japan and Ceylon and the East Indies (1506-1552). Etymologically speaking, the name Xavier may be derived from Arabic (Xavier, meaning Bright) or Basque (Etcheberria or Etxabier, meaning The New House))
Sense 2
Meaning:
Someone sent on a mission--especially a religious or charitable mission to a foreign country
Synonyms:
missionary; missioner
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("missionary" is a kind of...):
religious person (a person who manifests devotion to a deity)
Instance hyponyms:
Buck; Pearl Buck; Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (United States author whose novels drew on her experiences as a missionary in China (1892-1973))
Jacques Marquette; Marquette; Pere Jacques Marquette (French missionary who accompanied Louis Joliet in exploring the upper Mississippi River valley (1637-1675))
Apostle of the Gentiles; Apostle Paul; Paul; Paul the Apostle; Saint Paul; Saul; Saul of Tarsus; St. Paul ((New Testament) a Christian missionary to the Gentiles; author of several Epistles in the New Testament; even though Paul was not present at the Last Supper he is considered an Apostle)
Albert Schweitzer; Schweitzer (French philosopher and physician and organist who spent most of his life as a medical missionary in Gabon (1875-1965))
Junipero Serra; Miguel Jose Serra; Serra (Spanish missionary who founded Franciscan missions in California (1713-1784))
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu; Mother Teresa; Mother Theresa; Teresa; Theresa (Indian nun and missionary in the Roman Catholic Church (born of Albanian parents in what is now Macedonia); dedicated to helping the poor in India (1910-1997))
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Relating to or connected to a religious mission
Synonyms:
missional; missionary
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
mission (an organization of missionaries in a foreign land sent to carry on religious work)
Context examples:
"It was the missionary who did the image breaking," he laughed.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
If our ex-missionary friends escape the clutches of Lestrade, I shall expect to hear of some brilliant incidents in their future career.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A missionary's wife you must—shall be.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
There be large fires in that place, and if missionary make true talk, I know that Moklan will be cold no more.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
It was the same insularity of mind that made the ancient Jew thank God he was not born a woman, and sent the modern missionary god-substituting to the ends of the earth; and it made Ruth desire to shape this man from other crannies of life into the likeness of the men who lived in her particular cranny of life.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The root is shaped like a foot, half human, half goatlike; hence the fanciful name given by a botanical missionary.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He wanted to marry me only because he thought I should make a suitable missionary's wife, which she would not have done.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Then the missionary make large anger, and call me bad names of darkness, and tell me to go away.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
The Rev. Dr. Shlessinger, missionary from South America, is none other than Holy Peters, one of the most unscrupulous rascals that Australia has ever evolved—and for a young country it has turned out some very finished types.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
No! But you need not be a missionary.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
