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enigma - 5 dictionary results

e⋅nig⋅ma

  [uh-nig-muh]
Use enigma in a Sentence
–noun, plural -mas, -ma⋅ta  [-muh-tuh] .
1. a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation: His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.
2. a person of puzzling or contradictory character: To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.
3. a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning; riddle.
4. (initial capital letter) a German-built enciphering machine developed for commercial use in the early 1920s and later adapted and appropriated by German and other Axis powers for military use through World War II.
Origin:
1530–40; < L aenigma < Gk aínigma, equiv. to ainik- (s. of ainíssesthai to speak in riddles, deriv. of aînos fable) + -ma n. suffix of result

Synonyms:
1. problem. See puzzle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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e·nig·ma   (ĭ-nĭg'mə)   
n.  
  1. One that is puzzling, ambiguous, or inexplicable.
  2. A perplexing speech or text; a riddle.

[Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigma, from ainissesthai, ainig-, to speak in riddles, from ainos, fable.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Enigma

E*nig"ma\, n.; pl. Enigmas. [L. aenigma, Gr. ?, fr. ? to speak darkly, fr. ? tale, fable.]

1. A dark, obscure, or inexplicable saying; a riddle; a statement, the hidden meaning of which is to be discovered or guessed.

A custom was among the ancients of proposing an enigma at festivals. --Pope.

2. An action, mode of action, or thing, which cannot be satisfactorily explained; a puzzle; as, his conduct is an enigma.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : enigma
Spanish: enigma,
German: das Rätsel,
Japanese: なぞ
More Translations »

enigma 
1449, from L. ænigma "riddle," from Gk. ainigma, from ainissesthai "speak obscurely, speak in riddles," from ainos "fable, riddle," of unknown origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Enigma hardware, cryptography
The electro-mechanical cipher engine used by the Germans in World War II. Many of their messages were deciphered at Bletchley Park, by Alan Turing and others.
(2000-09-30)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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