Mission - Definition and Overview

A mission literally means something that is sent, from the Latin word missum, "sent".

• Thus we may refer to space exploration expeditions as "space missions",
• or to a diplomatic outpost in a foreign territory as a "diplomatic mission".
• Christian missions are movements or outposts of Christian proselytism.
  • Mission is often used to refer to the outposts established by Spanish friars in what are now the south-western states of the USA, and to the buildings that remain from those outposts; see California missions. The Mission District of San Francisco derives its name from such a Mission, the Mission San Francisco de Asis
  • A mission station is a name for the location of missionary practice, often associated with the displacement of local people during the process of colonisation.
• Several cities and towns are named Mission, including:
  • Mission, British Columbia, in Canada
  • Mission, Kansas, in the United States
  • Mission, Oregon, in the US
  • Mission, South_Dakota, in the US
  • Mission, Texas, in the US
• The 1986 film The Mission has a Christian mission as its setting.
• Analogously to the religious use, some businesses see and label their marketing practices as "missions". Other businesses may simply subscribe to mission statements as credos.
• In military parlance, "operations" are sometimes termed "missions".
• Mission is also the name of an ethnic group.