name · noun · 13 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ɪˈnɪɡmə/
/əˈnɪɡmə/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɪɡmə
CMU ARPABET:IH0 N IH1 G M AH0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
name
Meaning 1
A German device used during World War II to encode strategic messages.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Something or someone puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A riddle, or a difficult problem.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Riddles and puzzles, collectively.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
Mysteriousness; obscurity; a lack of clarity.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A style of literature characterized by obscurity and hints of transcendental meaning.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
Alternative letter-case form of Enigma.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
A protein with three LIM domains (a conserved cysteine- and histidine-rich structure of two adjacent zinc fingers) at the C terminus that regulates protein phosphorylation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
noun
Meaning 9
The Talaud kingfisher, Todiramphus enigma.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
noun
Meaning 10
Any of species of Oedaleonotus enigma of grasshoppers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
11
noun
Meaning 11
Any of species of Heliothis enigma of rare moths.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
12
noun
Meaning 12
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
how it got out is a mystery
it remains one of nature's secrets
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mystery, secret, closed book
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: perplexity
13
noun
Meaning 13
a difficult problem
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: riddle, conundrum, brain-teaser
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: problem
History
Etymology
From Latin aenigma (“riddle”), being derived itself from the Ancient Greek verbal noun αἴνιγμα (aínigma, “dark saying, speaking in riddles”).
Across languages
Translations
122 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
enigmë
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Arabic:
لُغْز
(luḡz)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Arabic:
غَامِضَة
(ḡāmiḍa)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Armenian:
առեղծված
(aṙeġcvac)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Asturian:
enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Azerbaijani:
müəmma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Belarusian:
зага́дка
(zahádka)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Bulgarian:
зага́дка
(zagádka)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Burmese:
စကားထာ
(ca.ka:hta)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Catalan:
enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Chinese Mandarin:
謎 /谜
(mí)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Czech:
záhada
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Danish:
gåde
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Dutch:
raadsel
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Dutch:
mysterie
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Esperanto:
enigmo
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Estonian:
mõistatus
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Finnish:
arvoitus
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Finnish:
mysteeri
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
French:
énigme
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Galician:
enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Georgian:
გამოცანა
(gamocana)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
German:
Rätsel
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
German:
Mysterium
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
German:
Enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Greek:
αίνιγμα
(aínigma)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Hebrew:
חִידָה
(ḥidá)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Hebrew:
תַּעֲלוּמָה
(ta'alumá)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Hindi:
पहेली
(pahelī)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Hindi:
मुअम्मा
(muammā)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Hindi:
राज़
(rāz)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Icelandic:
ráðgáta
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Italian:
enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Japanese:
謎
(nazo)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Kazakh:
жұмбақ
(jūmbaq)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Khmer:
បណ្ដៅ
(bɑɑbɑndaw)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Khmer:
ប្រស្នា
(prɑɑsnaa)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Korean:
수수께끼
(susukkekki)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Kyrgyz:
табышмак
(tabışmak)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Lao:
ຄໍາທວຍ
(kham thuāi)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Latin:
aenigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Latvian:
noslēpums
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Lithuanian:
paslaptis
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Lithuanian:
mįslė
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Norwegian Bokmål:
gåte
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Occitan:
enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Pashto:
معما
(ma'mã)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Persian:
معما
(mo'ammâ)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Polish:
enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Polish:
tajemnica
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Polish:
zagadka
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Portuguese:
enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Portuguese:
mistério
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Romanian:
enigmă
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Russian:
зага́дка
(zagádka)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Scottish Gaelic:
dubh-fhacal
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Scottish Gaelic:
dubh-cheist
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Serbo-Croatian:
за̏гоне̄тка
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Serbo-Croatian:
zȁgonētka
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Slovak:
záhada
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Slovene:
uganka
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Spanish:
enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Swedish:
gåta
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Tajik:
муаммо
(muammo)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Tatar:
табышмак
(tabışmaq)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Thai:
ปริศนา
(bprìt-sà-nǎa)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Turkish:
bilmece
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Turkish:
muamma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Turkish:
enigma
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Ukrainian:
зага́дка
(zahádka)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Urdu:
معما
(mu'ammā)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Urdu:
پہیلی
(pahelī)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Urdu:
راز
(rāz)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Uyghur:
تېپىشماق
(tëpishmaq)
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Uzbek:
jumboq
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Uzbek:
topishmoq
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Vietnamese:
điều bí ẩn
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Walloon:
cwacwa
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Walloon:
enike
— something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable
Armenian:
հանելուկ
(haneluk)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Belarusian:
зага́дка
(zahádka)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Bulgarian:
зага́дка
(zagádka)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Czech:
záhada
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Dutch:
raadsel
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Dutch:
enigma
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Esperanto:
enigmo
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Finnish:
arvoitus
— riddle, or a difficult problem
French:
énigme
— riddle, or a difficult problem
German:
Rätsel
— riddle, or a difficult problem
German:
Knobelei
— riddle, or a difficult problem
German:
Rateaufgabe
— riddle, or a difficult problem
German:
Knobelaufgabe
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Greek:
αίνιγμα
(aínigma)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Greek:
πρόβλημα
(próvlima)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Icelandic:
ráðgáta
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Italian:
enigma
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Italian:
indovinello
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Japanese:
謎
(nazo)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Korean:
수수께끼
(susukkekki)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Latin:
aenigma
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Macedonian:
загатка
(zagatka)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Persian:
معما
(mo'ammâ)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Polish:
zagadka
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Polish:
enigma
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Portuguese:
enigma
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Romanian:
ghicitoare
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Russian:
зага́дка
(zagádka)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Russian:
головоло́мка
(golovolómka)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Scottish Gaelic:
dubh-fhacal
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Scottish Gaelic:
dubh-cheist
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Serbo-Croatian:
за̏гоне̄тка
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Serbo-Croatian:
zȁgonētka
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Slovak:
záhada
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Slovene:
uganka
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Spanish:
enigma
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Swedish:
enigma
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Tagalog:
hibat
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Tajik:
муаммо
(muammo)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Turkish:
bilmece
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Turkish:
muamma
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Turkish:
enigma
— riddle, or a difficult problem
Ukrainian:
зага́дка
(zahádka)
— riddle, or a difficult problem
