MYSTERY
mystery, enigma, secret, closed book
(noun) something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained; “how it got out is a mystery”; “it remains one of nature’s secrets”
mystery, mystery story, whodunit
(noun) a story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or movie
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
mystery (countable and uncountable, plural mysteries)
Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown. [From XIV century.]
Someone or something with an obscure or puzzling nature.
(obsolete) A secret or mystical meaning. [From XIV century.]
A religious truth not understandable by the application of human reason alone (without divine aid). [From XIV century.]
(archaic, outside, Eastern Orthodoxy) A sacrament. [From XV century.]
(mostly, in plural) A secret religious celebration, admission to which was usually through initiation. [From XV century.]
(Catholicism) A particular event or series of events in the life of Christ. [From XVII century.]
A craft, art or trade; specifically a guild of craftsmen.
Synonyms
• roun (obsolete)
Source: Wiktionary
Mys"ter*y, n.; pl. Mysteries. Etym: [L. mysterium, Gr. 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.
Definition: The consecrated elements in the eucharist.
4. Anything artfully made difficult; an enigma.
Mys"ter*y, n.; pl. Mysteries. Etym: [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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition