Mystery

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: mys=ter=y

CIDE DICTIONARY

Mystery, n. [L. mysterium, Gr. mysth`rion, fr. my`sths one initiated in mysteries; cf. myei^n to initiate into the mysteries, fr. my`ein to shut the eyes. Cf. Mute, a.].

•  A profound secret; something wholly unknown, or something kept cautiously concealed, and therefore exciting curiosity or wonder; something which has not been or can not be explained; hence, specifically, that which is beyond human comprehension.  [1913 Webster]

  "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery."  [1913 Webster]

  "If God should please to reveal unto us this great mystery of the Trinity, or some other mysteries in our holy religion, we should not be able to understand them, unless he would bestow on us some new faculties of the mind."  [1913 Webster]
•  A kind of secret religious celebration, to which none were admitted except those who had been initiated by certain preparatory ceremonies; -- usually plural; as, the Eleusinian mysteries.  [1913 Webster]
•  The consecrated elements in the eucharist.  [1913 Webster]
•  Anything artfully made difficult; an enigma.  [1913 Webster]

Mystery, n. [OE. mistere, OF. mestier, F. métier, L. ministerium. See Ministry.].

•  A trade; a handicraft; hence, any business with which one is usually occupied.  [1913 Webster]

  "Fie upon him, he will discredit our mystery."  [1913 Webster]

  "And that which is the noblest mystery
  Brings to reproach and common infamy."  [1913 Webster]
•  A dramatic representation of a Scriptural subject, often some event in the life of Christ; a dramatic composition of this character; as, the Chester Mysteries, consisting of dramas acted by various craft associations in that city in the early part of the 14th century.  [1913 Webster]

  "“Mystery plays,” so called because acted by craftsmen."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Mystery, n. (pl. -ies)
1 a secret, hidden, or inexplicable matter (the reason remains a mystery).
2 secrecy or obscurity (wrapped in mystery).
3 (attrib.) secret, undisclosed (mystery guest).
4 the practice of making a secret of (esp. unimportant) things (engaged in mystery and intrigue).
5 (in full mystery story) a fictional work dealing with a puzzling event, esp. a crime (a well-known mystery writer).
6 a a religious truth divinely revealed, esp. one beyond human reason. b RC Ch. a decade of the rosary.
7 (in pl.) a the secret religious rites of the ancient Greeks, Romans, etc. b archaic the Eucharist.

Idiom

make a mystery of treat as an impressive secret. mystery play a miracle play. mystery tour (or trip) a pleasure excursion to an unspecified destination.

Mystery, n. (pl. -ies) archaic a handicraft or trade, esp. as referred to in indentures etc. (art and mystery).

Etymology

ME f. med.L misterium contr. of ministerium MINISTRY, assoc. with MYSTERY(1)

THESAURUS

Mystery

Chinese puzzle, Grand Guignol, Marchen, Passion play, Tom show, Western, Western story, Westerner, adventure story, allegory, ambiguity, ambiguousness, anagoge, anagogics, anthroposophy, antimasque, apologue, arcanum, art, audience success, awesomeness, baffle, bafflement, baffling problem, ballet, bedtime story, beguilingness, bewilderment, bomb, bother, brain twister, brain-teaser, broadcast drama, burlesque show, business, cabala, cabalism, career, career building, careerism, ceremonial, ceremony, charade, classified information, cliff hanger, closet drama, comedy drama, confidence, confidential communication, confoundment, confusion, conundrum, craft, critical success, crossword puzzle, crux, dark horse, daytime serial, detective novel, detective story, dialogue, dilemma, discomposure, disconcert, disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment, disturbance, documentary drama, drama, dramalogue, dramatic play, dramatic series, duodrama, duologue, duty, eeriness, elfdom, embarrassment, enchantingness, enigma, enigmatic question, enigmaticalness, enticingness, epic theater, esoterica, esotericism, esoterics, esoterism, esotery, experimental theater, extraordinariness, extravaganza, fable, fabliau, faerie, failure, fairy tale, fantasy, fascination, fiction, fix, floorer, flop, folk story, folktale, form, form of worship, formality, formula, formulary, frontier, frontiers of knowledge, function, game, gasser, gest, ghost story, giveaway, glamorousness, guarded secret, handicraft, happening, hermetics, hit, hit show, hocus-pocus, holy rite, horse opera, improvisational drama, indefinability, indefiniteness, inexplicability, inextricability, inscrutability, insolvability, institution, jam, jigsaw puzzle, knot, knotty point, legend, legitimate drama, lifework, line, line of business, line of work, liturgy, love story, marvelousness, masque, matter of ignorance, melodrama, metier, mind-boggler, minstrel show, miracle, miracle play, miraculousness, mission, mode of worship, monodrama, monologue, morality, morality play, mumbo jumbo, music drama, musical revue, mysteriousness, mystery of mysteries, mystery play, mystery story, mysticism, mystification, myth, mythology, mythos, n, nebulousness, nonplus, number, numinousness, nursery tale, nut to crack, obscurity, observance, occultism, occupation, office, opera, order of worship, ordinance, otherworldliness, pageant, panel show, pantomime, parable, pastoral, pastoral drama, perplexed question, perplexity, personal matter, perturbation, phenomenalness, pickle, piece, play, playlet, plight, poser, pother, practice, predicament, prescribed form, preternaturalism, private matter, privileged communication, privity, problem, problem play, prodigiousness, profession, profound secret, psychodrama, pursuit, puzzle, puzzlement, puzzler, quandary, question, question mark, quiz show, racket, radio drama, remarkableness, restricted information, review, revue, riddle, rite, ritual, ritual observance, rituality, romance, sacrament, sacramental, science fiction, scrape, sealed book, secrecy, secret, seductiveness, sensational play, serial, service, shocker, show, sitcom, situation comedy, sixty-four dollar question, sketch, skit, soap, soap opera, sociodrama, solemnity, space fiction, space opera, specialization, specialty, spectacle, stage play, stage show, stew, sticker, straight drama, stumper, stupendousness, success, superhumanity, supernaturalism, supernaturality, supernaturalness, supernature, supernormalness, superphysicalness, supersensibleness, supranaturalism, supranature, suspense drama, suspense story, symbolics, symbolism, tableau, tableau vivant, talk show, teleplay, television drama, television play, terra incognita, the incalculable, the occult, the strange, the supernatural, the supersensible, the unfamiliar, the unknowable, the unknown, theater of cruelty, thriller, total theater, tough proposition, trade, transcendentalism, unaccountableness, unassuredness, undefinability, unearthliness, unexplainableness, unexplored ground, unexplored territory, unknown quantity, unworldliness, upset, vagueness, variety show, vaudeville, vaudeville show, vehicle, vexed question, vocation, walk, walk of life, whodunit, why, witchery, wonderfulness, wondrousness, word-of-mouth success, work, work of fiction, x, yoga, yogeeism, yogism, z

ROGET THESAURUS

Mystery

The Drama

N the drama, the stage, the theater, the play, film the film, movies, motion pictures, cinema, cinematography, theatricals, dramaturgy, histrionic art, buskin, sock, cothurnus, Melpomene and Thalia, Thespis, play, drama, stage play, piece, five-act play, tragedy, comedy, opera, vaudeville, comedietta, lever de rideau, interlude, afterpiece, exode, farce, divertissement, extravaganza, burletta, harlequinade, pantomime, burlesque, opera bouffe, ballet, spectacle, masque, drame comedie drame, melodrama, melodrame, comidie larmoyante, sensation drama, tragicomedy, farcical-comedy, monodrame monologue, duologue trilogy, charade, proverbs, mystery, miracle play, musical, musical comedy, western, horse opera, flick, spy film, love story, adventure film, documentary, nature film, pornographic film, smoker, skin flick, X-rated film, act, scene, tableau, induction, introduction, prologue, epilogue, libretto, performance, representation, mise en scene, stagery, jeu de theatre, acting, gesture, impersonation, stage business, gag, buffoonery, light comedy, genteel comedy, low comedy, theater, playhouse, opera house, house, music hall, amphitheater, circus, hippodrome, theater in the round, puppet show, fantoccini, marionettes, Punch and Judy, auditory, auditorium, front of the house, stalls, boxes, pit, gallery, parquet, greenroom, coulisses, flat, drop, drop scene, wing, screen, side scene, transformation scene, curtain, act drop, proscenium, stage, scene, scenery, the boards, trap, mezzanine floor, flies, floats, footlights, offstage, orchestra, theatrical costume, theatrical properties, movie studio, back lot, on location, part, role, character, dramatis personae, repertoire, actor, thespian, player, method actor, stage player, strolling player, stager, performer, mime, mimer, artists, comedian, tragedian, tragedienne, Roscius, star, movie star, star of stage and screen, superstar, idol, sex symbol, supporting actor, supporting cast, ham, hamfatter, masker, pantomimist, clown harlequin, buffo, buffoon, farceur, grimacer, pantaloon, columbine, punchinello, pulcinello, pulcinella, extra, bit- player, walk-on role, cameo appearance, mute, figurante, general utility, super, supernumerary, company, first tragedian, prima donna, protagonist, jeune premier, debutant, debutante, light comedian, genteel comedian, low comedian, walking gentleman, amoroso, heavy father, ingenue, jeune veuve, mummer, guiser, guisard, gysart, masque, mountebank, Jack Pudding, tumbler, posture master, acrobat, contortionist, ballet dancer, ballet girl, chorus singer, coryphee danseuse, property man, costumier, machinist, prompter, call boy, manager, director, stage manager, acting manager, producer, entrepreneur, impresario, backer, investor, angel, dramatic author, dramatic writer, play writer, playwright, dramatist, mimographer, dramatic, theatric, theatrical, scenic, histrionic, comic, tragic, buskined, farcical, tragicomic, melodramatic, operatic, stagy, on the stage, on the boards, on film, before the floats, before an audience, behind the scenes, fere totus mundus exercet histrionem, suit the action to the word, the word to the action, the play's the thing, to wake the soul by tender strokes of art.

Business

N business, occupation, employment, pursuit, what one is doing, what one is about, affair, concern, matter, case, matter in hand, irons in the fire, thing to do, agendum, task, work, job, chore, errand, commission, mission, charge, care, duty, part, role, cue, province, function, lookout, department, capacity, sphere, orb, field, line, walk, walk of life, beat, round, routine, race, career, office, place, post, chargeship, incumbency, living, situation, berth, employ, service, engagement, undertaking, vocation, calling, profession, cloth, faculty, industry, art, industrial arts, craft, mystery, handicraft, trade, exercise, work, avocation, press of business, businesslike, workaday, professional, official, functional, busy, on hand, in hand, in one's hands, afoot, on foot, on the anvil, going on, acting, in the course of business, all in one's day's work, professionally Adj, a business with an income at its heels, amoto quaeramus seria ludo, par negotiis neque supra.

Invisibility

N invisibility, invisibleness, nonappearance, imperceptibility, indistinctness, mystery, delitescence, concealment, latency, invisible, imperceptible, undiscernible, indiscernible, unapparent, non-apparent, out of sight, not in sight, a perte de vue, behind the scenes, behind the curtain, viewless, sightless, inconspicuous, unconspicuous, unseen &c (see), covert, eclipsed, under an eclipse, dim, mysterious, dark, obscure, confused, indistinct, indistinguishable, shadowy, indefinite, undefined, ill- defined, ill-marked, blurred, fuzzy, out of focus, misty, delitescent, hidden, obscured, covered, veiled (concealed), full many a flower is born to blush unseen.

Implication

N latency, implication, latency, inexpression, hidden meaning, occult meaning, occultness, mystery, cabala, anagoge, silence, concealment, more than meets the eye, more than meets the ear, Delphic oracle, le dessous des cartes, undercurrent, implication, logical implication, logical consequence, entailment, allusion, insinuation, innuendo, adumbration, something rotten in the state of Denmark, snake in the grass, secret, darkness, invisibility, imperceptibility, latent, lurking, secret, occult, implied, dormant, abeyant, unapparent, unknown, unseen, in the background, invisible, indiscoverable, dark, impenetrable, unspied, unsuspected, unsaid, unwritten, unpublished, unbreathed, untalked of, untold &c, unsung, unexposed, unproclaimed, undisclosed, unexpressed, not expressed, tacit, undeveloped, solved, unexplained, untraced, undiscovered, untracked, unexplored, uninvented, indirect, crooked, inferential, by inference, by implication, implicit, constructive, allusive, covert, muffled, steganographic, understood, underhand, underground, delitescent, concealed, by a side wind, sub silentio, in the background, behind the scenes, behind one's back, on the tip of one's tongue, secretly, between the lines, thereby hangs a tale, tacitum vivit sub pectore vulnus, where there's smoke, there's fire.

Concealment

N concealment, hiding, occultation, mystification, seal of secrecy, screen, disguise, masquerade, masked battery, hiding place, cryptography, steganography, freemasonry, stealth, stealthiness, sneakiness, obreption, slyness, latitancy, latitation, seclusion, privacy, secrecy, secretness, incognita, reticence, reserve, mental reserve, reservation, arriere pensee, suppression, evasion, white lie, misprision, silence, suppression of truth, underhand dealing, closeness, secretiveness, mystery, latency, snake in the grass, secret, stowaway, concealed, hidden, secret, recondite, mystic, cabalistic, occult, dark, cryptic, cryptical, private, privy, in petto, auricular, clandestine, close, inviolate, tortuous, behind a screen, undercover, under an eclipse, in ambush, in hiding, in disguise, in a cloud, in a fog, in a mist, in a haze, in a dark corner, in the shade, in the dark, clouded, wrapped in clouds, wrapt in clouds, invisible, buried, underground, perdu, secluded, undisclosed &c, untold, covert, untraceable, mysterious, irrevealable, inviolable, confidential, esoteric, not to be spoken of, unmentionable, obreptitious, furtive, stealthy, feline, skulking, surreptitious, underhand, hole and corner, sly, secretive, evasive, reserved, reticent, uncommunicative, buttoned up, close, close as wax, taciturn, secretly, in secret, in private, in one's sleeve, in holes and corners, in the dark, januis clausis, with closed doors, a huis clos, hugger mugger, a la derobee, under the cloak of, under the rose, under the table, sub rosa, en tapinois, in the background, aside, on the sly, with bated breath, sotto voce, in a whisper, without beat of drum, a la sourdine, behind the veil, beyond mortal ken, beyond the grave, beyond the veil, hid from mortal vision, into the eternal secret, into the realms supersensible, into the supreme mystery, in confidence, in strict confidence, in strictest confidence, confidentially, between ourselves, between you and me, between you and me and the bedpost, entre nous, inter nos, under the seal of secrecy, a couvert, underhand, by stealth, like a thief in the night, stealthily, behind the scenes, behind the curtain, behind one's back, behind a screen, incognito, in camera, it must go no further, it will go no further, don't tell a soul, tell it not in Gath, nobody the wiser, alitur vitium vivitque tegendo, let it be tenable in your silence still, background information, deep background information, deep background, background session, backgrounder, not for attribution.

Secret

N secret, dead secret, profound secret, arcanum, mystery, latency, Asian mystery, sealed book, secrets of the prison house, le desous des cartes, enigma, riddle, puzzle, nut to crack, conundrum, charade, rebus, logogriph, monogram, anagram, Sphinx, crux criticorum, maze, labyrinth, Hyrcynian wood, intricacy, meander, problem, paradox, unintelligibility, terra incognita, secret, involved, labyrinthine, labyrinthian, mazy, confidential, top secret.