Definition of "missionary" []

• One who is sent on a mission, especially one sent to do religious or charitable work in a territory or foreign country. (noun)
• One who attempts to persuade or convert others to a particular program, doctrine, or set of principles; a propagandist. (noun)
• Of or relating to missions or missionaries. (adjective)
• Engaged in the activities of a mission or missionary. (adjective)
• Tending to propagandize or use insistent persuasion: missionary fervor. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This missionary had a son in the school, and I noticed that, whatever the “missionary” might have said or done with regard to others, he was careful not to take his son away from the institution."
• "This, be it remembered, is the testimony of an ideal industrial missionary, who, however, was also much more than a mere industrial missionary*"
• "The word missionary always seemed to facilitate entry when needed."