mission French · revision 16737

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1350, Gilles li Muisis|origins=la mittō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mi.sjɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mission''' ''f'' (plural missions)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|missiō|t=a sending; release, discharge]], from [[m|la|mittō|t=to send]] (see [[mettre]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|6/2, 174a)^(Wiktionary) Old French had already taken the word as [[m|fro|meission]] (1188–1500) in the sense “expense, outlay”, from [[la-med|missio]] “expense” (before 1058), with a verb [[m|fro|meissionner|t=to spend]], Bloch and Wartburg compare [[m|fro|mettre]] “to spend” and [[mise]] “outlay”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Gilles li Muisis (about 1350) uses it for the divine mission of Christ, his being sent by God.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th century dictionaries give only the medical senses “release” and “letting (of blood)”, later taken by ''émission''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The modern senses date from the 17th century: a task given to someone, first in international politics (1656, Pascal), the group of people sent to carry it out (1842, Stendhal), and, from 1831 (Balzac) the purpose or function of a thing.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Chargé de mission'' dates from 1946–49.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The religious sense flourished in the 17th century: the evangelization of a country (1671), a course of preaching (1675), the body of missionaries (1680) and their buildings (1690), at the time of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and the Société des Missions étrangères (1658).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Littré records ''missions bottées'', the dragonnades against Protestants.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1188 – ''Meission'' “expense”, Aimon de Varennes.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1350 – The mission of Christ.^(TLFi)

+ * 1656 – A task given to someone, Pascal.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – A religious mission, Pomey.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ * 1831 – The purpose of a thing, Balzac.^(TLFi)

+ * 1842 – A group sent on a mission, Stendhal.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|mission]], an assignment: ''confier une mission à quelqu'un'', ''partir en mission'', ''mission accomplie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A group of people sent on a task: ''mission diplomatique, scientifique''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A calling, purpose: ''la mission de l'école'', ''se donner pour mission de''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(religion)'' A mission: evangelization, ''pays de mission''; the missionaries; their station.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(military, spaceflight)'' An operation: ''mission aérienne, spatiale''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[missionnaire]]

+ * [[missionner]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[admission]]

+ * [[démission]]

+ * [[mettre]]

+ * [[permission]]

+ * [[rémission]]

+ * [[émission]]

+ * [[la|missiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}