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mysteries


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Mystery  \Mys"ter*y\,  n.;  pl  {Mysteries}.  [OE.  mistere,  OF 
  mestier,  F.  m['e]tier,  L.  ministerium  See  {Ministry}.] 
  1.  A  trade  a  handicraft;  hence  any  business  with  which  one 
  is  usually  occupied. 
 
  Fie  upon  him  he  will  discredit  our  mystery.  --Shak. 
 
  And  that  which  is  the  noblest  mystery  Brings  to 
  reproach  and  common  infamy.  --Spenser. 
 
  2.  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. 
 
  ``Mystery  plays,''  so  called  because  acted  by 
  craftsmen.  --Skeat. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Mystery  \Mys"ter*y\,  n.;  pl  {Mysteries}.  [L.  mysterium  Gr  ?, 
  fr  ?  one  initiated  in  mysteries;  cf  ?  to  initiate  into  the 
  mysteries,  fr  ?  to  shut  the  eyes.  Cf  {Mute},  a.] 
  1.  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. 
 
  We  speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery.  --1  Cor. 
  ii  7. 
 
  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.  --Swift. 
 
  2.  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. 
 
  3.  pl  The  consecrated  elements  in  the  eucharist. 
 
  4.  Anything  artfully  made  difficult;  an  enigma. 




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