mystery
Mystery, a secret, and the old mystery, a craft or trade, are different words, though the second was shaped by the first.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈmɪs.tər.i/, /ˈmɪs.tri/[4]
mystery1 secret
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English misterie, from Anglo-French *misterie, Old French mistere, and directly from Latin mystērium (“secret rite”),[2][5] from Greek Ancient Greek μυστήριον (mystḗrion, “secret rite or doctrine”),[2][1][3] from Ancient Greek μύστης (mýstēs, “one initiated”), from mýein “to close, shut”,[2][1] perhaps of the lips in secrecy or of the eyes, since only initiates might see the rites.[2][1] It is related to mystic, mystify and mute.[2][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
In theology, hidden spiritual meaning, in a mystery “mystically”: about 1315 in the OED, the early 14th century in Etymonline.[7][2] Barnhart dates a secret thing or a doctrine beyond human understanding to before 1333.[1]
Semantic evolution
In the Septuagint the Greek word meant the secret counsel of God, which the Vulgate translated as sacrāmentum.[2] A religious truth known only by revelation is from 1382.[7] The everyday sense, a hidden or unexplained thing, is from the late 14th century.[2][7] A sacramental rite is from 1506,[7] and the ancient rites of Greece and Egypt are mysteries from the 1640s.[2][6] A detective or crime story is from 1908, in Chesterton.[1][2] Mysterious is from 1616,[1] and mystery meat is by 1949.[2]
Timeline
- c. 1315 – hidden spiritual meaning.[7]
- 1382 – a revealed truth.[7]
- late 14th century – a hidden thing.[2]
- 1506 – a sacramental rite.[7]
- 1908 – a detective story.[1][2]
Modern meaning
Noun
- Something that is not understood or explained.
- The quality of being strange or secret.
- A story, play or film about a puzzling crime.
- A religious truth known only through divine revelation.
- (plural) The secret rites of an ancient religion.
mystery2 craft
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English misterie, borrowed from Medieval Latin misterium, an alteration of Latin ministerium (“service, office”),[2][1][3] shortened under the influence of mystērium “mystery”.[1][3] Etymonline adds an influence of maistrie “mastery” on the sense.[2] It is related to ministry.[1][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Service, office, ministry: about 1386 in the OED, about 1390 in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Barnhart.[7][1]
Semantic evolution
A handicraft, trade or art is from before 1400,[1][5] and a guild of craftsmen or merchants followed.[8] The mystery plays, medieval religious plays based on the Bible, are often said to have been staged by craft guilds,[1][2] and the two senses were a common pun in Tudor theatre.[2]
Timeline
Modern meaning
Noun
- (archaic) A trade or craft.
- (archaic) A guild of craftsmen or merchants.
- A mystery play.
Related words
- mystic
- mystical
- mysticism
- mystify
- mystique
- mysterious
- ministry
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin