different between missive vs mission

English

Etymology

15th Century; from Medieval Latin missivus, from mittere (“to send”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?m?s?v/

Noun

missive (plural missives)

1. (formal) A written message; a letter, note or memo.
   • 2008, Claire Armistead, The Guardian, 25 Oct 2008:

     The Madonna letters, which are interspersed with more personal missives in this curious epistolary memoir, accumulate into a rap about the downsides of celebrity - the problems of ageing, of invaded privacy, of becoming vain and impetuously adopting children from other continents.

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 71:

     "Curses throttle thee!" yelled Ahab. "Captain Mayhew, stand by now to receive it"; and taking the fatal missive from Starbuck's hands, he caught it in the slit of the pole, and reached it over towards the boat.

2. (in the plural, Scotland, law) Letters sent between two parties in which one makes an offer and the other accepts it.
3. (obsolete) One who is sent; a messenger.
   • c. 1606: Macbeth by Shakespeare

     Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it came missives from the King, who all hailed me ‘Thane of Cawdor,’ by which title these Weird Sisters saluted me and referred me to the coming on of time with ‘Hail king that shalt be.’

Translations

Adjective

missive (not comparable)

1. Specially sent; intended or prepared to be sent.

   a letter missive

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ayliffe to this entry?)

2. (obsolete) Serving as a missile; intended to be thrown.
   • 1700, John Dryden, Cymon And Iphigenia

     The missive weapons fly.

Related terms

• See mission for terms etymologically related to send

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “missive”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

French

Pronunciation

Noun

missive f (plural missives)

1. missive

Italian

Noun

missive f

1. plural of missiva

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin missi?nem, accusative of missi? (“a sending, sending away, dispatching, discharging, release, remission, cessation”), from mitt? (“I send”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: m?sh?n, m?sh??n, IPA^(key): /?m??n?/, /?m???n/
• Rhymes: -???n
• Hyphenation: mis?sion

Noun

mission (countable and uncountable, plural missions)

1. (countable) A set of tasks that fulfills a purpose or duty; an assignment set by an employer, or by oneself.
2. (uncountable) Religious evangelism.
3. (in the plural, "the missions") third world charities, particularly those which preach as well as provide aid.
4. (countable) (Catholic tradition) an infrequent gathering of religious believers in a parish, usually part of a larger regional event with a central theme.
5. A number of people appointed to perform any service; a delegation; an embassy.
6. (obsolete) dismissal; discharge from service
7. A settlement or building serving as a base for missionary work.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

mission (third-person singular simple present missions, present participle missioning, simple past and past participle missioned)

1. (transitive) To send on a mission.
2. do missionary work, proselytize

Further reading

• mission in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• mission in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “mission”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• Ionisms

Finnish

Noun

mission

1. genitive singular of missio

French

Etymology

From Old French mission, borrowed from Latin missi?, missi?nem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.sj??/

Noun

mission f (plural missions)

1. mission (duty that involves fulfilling a request)
2. mission (religious evangelism)

Derived terms

• missionnaire
• missionner

Related terms

• admission
• démission
• permission
• rémission
• mettre

Further reading

• “mission” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• misions

Norman

Etymology

From Old French mission, borrowed from Latin missi?, missi?nem.

Noun

mission f (plural missions)

1. (Jersey) mission

Old French

Alternative forms

• mession
• micion
• mision

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin missi?, missi?nem.

Noun

mission f (oblique plural missions, nominative singular mission, nominative plural missions)

1. expense; cost; outlay

Descendants

• French: mission
• Norman: mission

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m???u?n/

Noun

mission c

1. (countable) a mission; a purpose or duty, a task set by an employer
2. (uncountable) mission; religious evangelism

Declension

Related terms

• missionär
• missionsfält
• missionsförbund