Mystery Meaning
/ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounSomething secret or unexplainable; an unknown.
nounSomeone or something with an obscure or puzzling nature.
Sentence Examples
Despite the importance of sleep, its purpose is a mystery.
Space is full of mystery.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden disappearance of the passenger plane remains a complete ____ to the investigators.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ancient ruins remain a complete ____ to the archaeologists, as they have yet to find any records of the people who once lived there.
Word Origin & 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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff."
— 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
"The fate of the railway from Ballater to Braemar has been invested with an air of mystery, which has never been completely dispelled. It has been suggested that Queen Victoria was opposed to a railway in the vicinity of Balmoral Castle, and intervened personally to secure the abandonment of the line beyond Ballater."
— 1957 January 26, H. A. Vallance, “The Deeside Railway—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 6:
"Then I had a good think on the subject of the hocussing of Cigarette, and I was reluctantly bound to admit that once again the man in the corner had found the only possible solution to the mystery."
— 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
"The Moralities displayed something more of art and invention than the Mysteries; in them virtues, vices and qualities were personified, and something like a plot was frequently to be discovered."
— 1862, George Borrow, Wild Wales:
"There are seven mysteries, or sacraments, in the Greek church, viz. baptism, the chrism (a rite peculiar to this church), the eucharist, confession, ordination, marriage, and the holy oil."
— 1809, Sir Robert Ker Porter, Travelling Sketches in Russia and Sweden: During the Years 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden disappearance of the passenger plane remains a complete ____ to the investigators.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ancient ruins remain a complete ____ to the archaeologists, as they have yet to find any records of the people who once lived there.