I. ˈmishəˌnerē, -ri adjective
Etymology: New Latin missionarius, from mission-, missio mission + Latin -arius -ary — more at mission
1.
a. : of or relating to missions
a missionary undertaking
the missionary hospital
b. : engaged in or devoted to mission work
a missionary religion
missionary priests
2. : suitable to or characteristic of a person sent on or undertaking a mission
a generous composer with missionary instincts … who will attempt to lead other composers — Robert Evett
threw himself into the campaign with missionary zeal
3. Roman Catholicism : not having a canonically established hierarchy and subject immediately to Rome as a mission or prefecture or vicariate apostolic
a missionary territory
II. noun
( -es )
1.
a. : one sent to propagate the faith, doctrine, and principles of a religion or a religious group among nonbelievers
sent missionaries into those regions in the early part of the 19th century — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania
b. : one who undertakes a special religious or humanitarian mission among those of his own faith or country
the missionary can … put the fear of the Lord into complacent souls that is necessary for their return to grace and salvation — D.J.Corrigan
became a city missionary devoting his life to helping the down-and-out
c. : one who attempts to convert others to a specific way of life, set of ideas, or course of action
these early missionaries of a new and boundless materialism — M.D.Geismar
the pressures brought directly or indirectly by the missionaries of home ownership — J.P.Dean
has become an enthusiastic missionary for vitamin E — Eric Hutton
2. : one who undertakes a political or diplomatic mission : agent , emissary
the administration's most-traveled diplomatic missionary — Newsweek
3. : one who acts to undermine the morale of workers on strike
III. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: missionary (II)
: to work as a missionary
in her wildest dreams of missionarying … had never looked forward to anything quite like her new home — R.L.Taylor