# mystery

Pronunciation: say "MIS-tuh-ree" /ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/

## Noun

1. Someone or something that is secret, unknown, or impossible to explain or understand.
   - Simple: Someone or something that people cannot understand or explain, or do not know about.
   - _The sudden disappearance of the entire crew is one of seafaring's enduring mysteries._
   - _Exactly why the engine failed is still a mystery to the investigators._
2. A story, book, film, or play, often about crime or murder, with a surprise ending that explains the strange events that came before.
   - Simple: A story, book, or film about a crime that gets solved at the end.
   - _The author is best known for her mysteries set in small coastal towns._
   - _He enjoys a good mystery in which every small clue eventually matters._
3. A religious truth that human reason alone cannot grasp, understood only with divine aid.
   - Simple: A religious truth that people cannot fully understand without God's help.
   - _Theologians describe the incarnation as a mystery accessible only through faith._
   - _For believers, certain divine mysteries lie beyond the reach of pure logic._
4. A medieval religious drama enacting biblical stories, also called a mystery play.
   - Simple: An old play that acts out a story from the Bible.
   - _Medieval guilds competed to produce the most elaborate mystery._
   - _The cycle of mysteries told the whole biblical story from creation to judgment._
5. A religious rite held in secret, to which people were usually admitted only through initiation.
   - Simple: A secret religious ceremony that only members who have been initiated may join.
   - _Initiates traveled to Eleusis to take part in the sacred mysteries._
   - _Ancient Greeks who were initiated into the mysteries at Eleusis swore never to reveal what they had seen._
6. A particular event, or series of events, in the life of Christ or of the Virgin Mary, recalled in devotion, as in the rosary.
   - Simple: An important event in the life of Jesus or of his mother Mary, remembered during prayer.
   - _Each mystery of the rosary recalls a moment from the life of Christ or of Mary._
   - _The sorrowful mysteries center on the suffering and death of Jesus._
7. A sacrament; a sacred rite of the Christian church through which grace is given.
   - Simple: A holy Christian ceremony, such as baptism or communion.
   - _The Orthodox tradition counts marriage among the holy mysteries._
   - _Communion is received as a mystery in the Eastern churches._

## Noun

8. A secret or mystical meaning concealed beneath the surface of a text or sign. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A hidden or spiritual meaning lying behind a text or symbol.
9. A craft, art, or trade; in particular, a guild of craftsmen who practice it. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A skilled trade or craft, or a group of workers who share it.

## Origin

Ancient Greek múō ("I shut") lies at the root of mústēs ("initiated one"), which gave mustḗrion, meaning "a mystery, a secret, a secret rite." Latin borrowed this as mysterium, and it reached English through Anglo-Norman misterie and Middle English. The word replaced the native Old English ġerȳne.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mystery (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).