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missionnaire

missionary

noun mee-syo-NEHR Rare
People & Society Religion

Origin: French mission + -aire, from Latin missio (a sending)

Usage Note

Missionnaire is both masculine and feminine — le/la missionnaire. Beyond the religious sense (a person sent to spread faith), it appears in the compound position du missionnaire (missionary position). In contemporary usage it can also refer metaphorically to someone who champions a cause with near-religious zeal.

Examples

"Le missionnaire vivait au milieu de la forêt."

Natural Translation

The missionary lived in the middle of the forest.

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