Mys"ter*y, n.; pl. Mysteries. [OE. mistere, OF. mestier, F. métier, 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.
{ Mys"tic (?), Mys"tic*al (?), } a. [L. mysticus, Gr. &?; belonging to
secret rites, from &?; one initiated: cf. F. mystique. See 1st Mystery,
Misty.] 1. Remote from or beyond human comprehension; baffling human
understanding; unknowable; obscure; mysterious.
Heaven's numerous hierarchy span The mystic gulf from God to man.
Emerson.
God hath revealed a way mystical and supernatural.
Hooker.
2. Importing or implying mysticism; involving some secret meaning;
allegorical; emblematical; as, a mystic dance; mystic Babylon.
Thus, then, did the spirit of unity and meekness inspire every
joint and sinew of the mystical body.
Milton.
-- Mys"tic*al*ly, adv. -- Mys"tic*al*ness, n.
Mys"tic (?), n. One given to mysticism; one who holds mystical views,
interpretations, etc.; especially, in ecclesiastical history, one who
professed mysticism. See Mysticism.
Mys"ti*cete (?), n. [Gr. my`stax the upper lip, also, the mustache +
kh^tos a whale.] (Zoöl.) Any right whale, or whalebone whale. See
Cetacea.
Mys"ti*cism (?), n. [Cf. F. mysticisme.] 1. Obscurity of doctrine.
2. (Eccl. Hist.) The doctrine of the Mystics, who professed a pure,
sublime, and wholly disinterested devotion, and maintained that they
had direct intercourse with the divine Spirit, and aquired a knowledge
of God and of spiritual things unattainable by the natural intellect,
and such as can not be analyzed or explained.
3. (Philos.) The doctrine that the ultimate elements or principles of
knowledge or belief are gained by an act or process akin to feeling or
faith.
Mys`ti*fi*ca"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. mystification.] The act of
mystifying, or the state of being mystied; also, something designed to,
or that does, mystify.
The reply of Pope seems very much as though he had been playing off
a mystification on his Grace.
De Quincey.
Mys"ti*fi*ca`tor (?), n. One who mystifies.
Mys"ti*fy (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mystified (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Mystifying (?).] [F. mystifier, fr. Gr. &?; + L. - ficare (in comp.) to
make. See 1st Mystery, and - fy.] 1. To involve in mystery; to make
obscure or difficult to understand; as, to mystify a passage of
Scripture.
2. To perplex the mind of; to puzzle; to impose upon the credulity of ;
as, to mystify an opponent.
He took undue advantage of his credulity and mystified him
exceedingly.
Ld. Campbell.
My"ta*cism (?), n. [Gr. &?;. Cf. Metacism.] Too frequent use of the
letter m, or of the sound represented by it.
Myth (?), n. [Written also mythe.] [Gr. my^qos myth, fable, tale, talk,
speech: cf. F. mythe.] 1. A story of great but unknown age which
originally embodied a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of
experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are
personified; an ancient legend of a god, a hero, the origin of a race,
etc.; a wonder story of prehistoric origin; a popular fable which is,
or has been, received as historical.
2. A person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual
existence is not verifiable.
As for Mrs. Primmins's bones, they had been myths these twenty
years.
Ld. Lytton.
Myth history, history made of, or mixed with, myths.
Mythe (?), n. See Myth. Grote.
{ Myth"ic (?), Myth"ic*al (?), } a. [L. mythicus, Gr. &?;. See Myth.]
Of or relating to myths; described in a myth; of the nature of a myth;
fabulous; imaginary; fanciful. -- Myth"ic*al*ly, adv.
The mythic turf where danced the nymphs.
Mrs. Browning.
Hengist and Horsa, Vortigern and Rowena, Arthur and Mordred, are
mythical persons, whose very existence may be questioned.
Macaulay.
My*thog"ra*pher (?), n. [Gr. myqogra`fos; my^qos + gra`fein to write.]
A composer of fables.
My*thol"o*ger (?), n. A mythologist.
Myth`o*lo"gi*an (?), n. A mythologist.
{ Myth`o*log"ic (?), Myth`o*log"ic*al (?), } a. [L. mythologicus: cf.
F. mytholigique.] Of or pertaining to mythology or to myths; mythical;
fabulous. -- Myth`o*log"ic*al*ly, adv.
My*thol"o*gist (?), n. [Cf. F. mythologiste.] One versed in, or who
writes on, mythology or myths.
My*thol"o*gize (?), v. i. [Cf. F. mythologiser.] 1. To relate,
classify, and explain, or attempt to explain, myths; to write upon
myths.