mystery

Noun

mystery (countable and uncountable, plural mysteries)

1. Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown.
   • The truth behind the events remains a mystery.
   • The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings
2. Someone or something with an obscure or puzzling nature.
   • That man is a mystery.
   • 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.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London...
3. An account, story, book, film, or play, often with the theme of crime or murder, with a surprise ending that explains all the strange events that have occurred.
4. A mystery play.
   • The Moralities displayed something more of art and invention than the Mysteries; in them virtues, vices and qualities were personified, and something like a plot was frequently to be discovered.1862, George Borrow, Wild Wales
5. (obsolete) A secret or mystical meaning.
   • […] and, not knowing the meaning or misterie of her pollicie, forgat no termes of reproche or rigorous rebuke against his chast doughter.1567, Matteo Bandello, Certain Tragical Discourses of Bandello, tr. Geffraie Fenton
6. A religious truth not understandable by the application of human reason alone (without divine aid).
   • 1744 (first printed), Jonathan Swift, A Sermon on the Trinity
     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.
7. (archaic outside Eastern Orthodoxy) A sacrament.
   • There are seven mysteries, or sacraments, in the Greek church, viz. baptism, the chrism (a rite peculiar to this church), the eucharist, confession, ordination, marriage, and the holy oil.1809, Sir Robert Ker Porter, Travelling Sketches in Russia and Sweden: During the Years 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808
8. (in plural) A secret religious celebration, admission to which was usually through initiation.
   • the Eleusinian mysteries
   • the Mysteries of Mithras
9. 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.
10. (archaic) A craft, art or trade; specifically a guild of craftsmen.
    • The trades, the crafts, the mysteries, would all be losers.1776, Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations