Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Mission in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels mission as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Mission

[L. missio, fr. mittere, missum, to send: cf. F. mission. See Missile.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordmission
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[L. missio, fr. mittere, missum, to send: cf. F. mission. See Missile.]
Selected historical definitionThe act of sending, or the state of being sent; a being sent or delegated by authority, with certain powers for transacting business; comission.
Signed record IDwebster1913-mission-noun-3fbd32d0871b
Source locatorCIDE.M, paragraph 7796; Gutenberg eBook 665
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 665Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "mission" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[L. missio, fr. mittere, missum, to send: cf. F. mission. See Missile.]" The selected historical definition says: "The act of sending, or the state of being sent; a being sent or delegated by authority, with certain powers for transacting business; comission."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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