- mission
- 1598, originally of Jesuits sending members abroad, from L. missionem (nom. missio) "act of sending," from mittere "to send," oldest form probably *smittere, of unknown origin. Diplomatic sense of "body of persons sent to a foreign land on commercial or political business" is from 1626. In Amer.Eng., sometimes "an embassy" (1805). Meaning "dispatch of an aircraft on a military operation" (1929, Amer.Eng.) later extended to spacecraft flights (1962), hence, mission control (1964). As a style of furniture, said to be imitative of furniture of original Sp. missions to N.America, it is attested from 1900.