mystery

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Etymology

From Middle English mysterie, from Latin mysterium, from Ancient Greek μυστήριον (musterion, “a mystery, a secret, a secret rite”), from μύστης (mustēs, “initiated one”), from μυέω (mueō, “I initiate”), from μύω (muō, “I shut”).

Noun

mystery (plural mysteries)

1. Something secret or unexplainable; unknown.

   The truth behind the events remains a mystery.

2. Someone or thing with an obscure or puzzling nature.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 5, The Hocussing of Cigarette^[1]:

     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.

   That man is a mystery.

3. (Catholicism) A particular event or series of events in the life of Christ.

   The second decade of the Rosary concerns the Sorrowful mysteries, such as the crucifixion and the crowning with thorns.

Synonyms

• roun (obsolete)

Derived terms

Terms derived from mystery

mysterious

mystery play

Related terms

Terms etymologically related to mystery

mystic mystical

mysticism mystify

mystique

Translations

something secret or unexplainable

• Albanian: mister (sq) m
• Arabic: سر (ar) (ser) m
• Armenian: գաղտնիք (hy) (gaġtnik'), առեղծված (hy) (aṙeġçvaç)
• Asturian: misteriu (ast) m
• Basque: misterio (eu)
• Belarusian: загадка (be) (zagadka) f
• Bulgarian: мистерия (bg) (misteriya) f
• Catalan: misteri (ca) m
• Cebuano: tugahala
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 神秘 (cmn) (shénmì)

• Czech: záhada (cs) f
• Danish: mysterium (da) n
• Dutch: mysterie (nl) n
• Esperanto: mistero (eo)
• Estonian: müsteerium (et)
• Finnish: salaisuus (fi)
• French: mystère (fr) m
• Galician: misterio (gl) m
• Georgian: საიდუმლოება (ka) (saidumloeba), ხვაშიადი (ka) (xvašiadi)
• German: Geheimnis (de) n, Rätsel (de) n
• Greek: μυστήριο (el) (mistírio) n
• Hebrew: תעלומה (he) (ta'aluma) f
• Hindi: रहस्य (hi) (rahasya) f
• Hungarian: rejtély (hu)
• Icelandic: ráðgáta (is) f
• Indonesian: misteri (id)
• Italian: mistero (it) m

• Japanese: ミステリー (ja) (misuterī)
• Korean: 신비 (ko) (sinbi)
• Latin: mysterium (la) n, obscuritas (la), occulta (la), naturae sacra (la)
• Latvian: noslēpums (lv) m, mistērija (lv) f
• Lithuanian: paslaptis (lt) m, misterija (lt) f
• Malay: misteri (ms)
• Maori: mea ngaro (mi)
• Mongolian: нууц (mn) (nuuc)
• Norwegian: mysterium (no) n
• Occitan: mistèri (oc) m
• Old English: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: راز (fa)
• Polish: tajemnica (pl) f
• Portuguese: mistério (pt) m
• Romanian: mister (ro) n
• Russian: тайна (ru) (tájna) f, загадка (ru) (zagádka) f
• Serbo-Croatian: mìstērīj (sh) m
• Slovak: záhada (sk) f
• Slovene: skrivnost (sl) n
• Spanish: misterio (es) m
• Swahili: siri (sw), kilinge (sw)
• Swedish: mysterium (sv) c
• Tagalog: hiwaga (tl)
• Thai: ความลี้ลับ (th) (kwaam lée láp)
• Turkish: gizem (tr), esrâr (tr)
• Vietnamese: bí ẩn (vi)
• Welsh: dirgelwch (cy) f
• Zulu: zinga (zu)

Someone or thing with an obscure or puzzling nature

• Arabic: غامض (ar)
• Armenian: առեղծված (hy) (aṙeġçvaç)
• Danish: mysterium (da) n
• German: Rätsel (de) n

• Portuguese: mistério (pt) m
• Russian: загадка (ru) (zagádka) f
• Serbo-Croatian: mìstērīj (sh) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ancient Greek: μυστήριον n
• Indonesian: keajaiban
• Italian: mistero m, giallo m
• Old English: searorūn

References

• Mysteries: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch15.htm#S9