Standard Lemma guide
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
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noun
Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Someone or something with an obscure or puzzling nature.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
An account, story, book, film, or play, often with the theme of crime or murder, with a surprise ending that explains all the strange events that have occurred.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A mystery play.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A secret or mystical meaning.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A religious truth not understandable by the application of human reason alone (without divine aid).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A sacrament.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Qualifier: archaic outside Eastern Orthodoxy
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A secret religious celebration, admission to which was usually through initiation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, in-plural, uncountable
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A particular event or series of events in the life of Christ.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: Catholicism, Christianity
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A craft, art or trade; specifically a guild of craftsmen.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: enigma, secret, closed book
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: perplexity
noun
a story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or movie
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: mystery story, whodunit
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: story
Narrower terms: detective story, murder mystery
History
From Middle English mysterie, from Anglo-Norman misterie (Old French mistere), from Latin mysterium, from Ancient Greek μυστήριον (mustḗrion, “a mystery, a secret, a secret rite”), from μύστης (mústēs, “initiated one”), from μυέω (muéō, “to initiate”), from μύω (múō, “to shut”). Displaced native Old English ġerȳne.
Across languages
185 source translations are retained for this English entry.
