missionary
/ˈmɪʃ(ə)n(ə)ri
/noun (plural missionaries)
A person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country.Yet how many Christians today give even a tenth to support pastors, evangelists and missionaries?...
- During the seventeenth century, French Jesuit missionaries converted many of the Iroquois to Catholicism.
- American Protestant missionaries arrived in Korea in the nineteenth century.
Synonyms
evangelist, apostle, proselytizer, preacher, televangelist, minister, priest;
campaigner, crusader, champion, converter, promoter, advocate, proponent
adjective
Relating to or characteristic of a missionary or a religious mission: missionary work our taxi driver shared a sense of missionary zeal with us...
- For some there was religious missionary zeal in helping those who were less fortunate.
- There is a direct connection between the presence of missionary zeal in members and their regular presence in worship.
- Theorizing about biblical translation was often undertaken and emerged within the framework of missionary practice.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from modern Latin missionarius, from Latin missio (see mission).