noun pl. mysteries -·ter·ies

1. something unexplained, unknown, or kept secret the mystery of life
2. 1. any thing or event that remains so secret or obscure as to excite curiosity a murder mystery
   2. a novel, story, or play involving such an event, esp. a crime and the gradual discovery of who committed it
3. the quality of being inexplicable; obscurity or secrecy an air of mystery surrounding the affair
4. secret rites or doctrines known only to a small, esoteric group; specif., in ancient Greece, religious ceremonies or doctrines revealed only to the initiated
5. any of the ancient cults characterized by such ceremonies the Eleusinian mysteries

6. Etymology: ? infl. by mystery

   mystery play
7. R.C.Ch.
   1. a sacrament; esp. the Eucharist
   2. any of fifteen events in the lives of Jesus and Mary serving as a subject for meditation during the saying of the rosary
8. Theol. any religious truth made known only by divine revelation and accepted through faith

Etymology: ME mysterye < L mysterium (in N.T., supernatural thing) < Gr mystērion, a secret rite (in N.T., divine secret) < mystēs, one initiated into the mysteries < myein, to initiate into the mysteries, orig., to close: see myope

noun pl. mysteries -·ter·ies

1. a craft or trade
2. guild (sense )

Etymology: altered < ME misterie, a trade, craft < ML misterium, altered < L ministerium, office, occupation (see minister), by confusion with mysterium (see mystery)