Nearby Words

enigma

[uh-nig-muh] Example Sentences Origin

e·nig·ma

[uh-nig-muh]
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; < Latin aenigma < Greek aínigma, equivalent to ainik- (stem of ainíssesthai to speak in riddles, derivative of aînos fable) + -ma noun suffix of result


1. problem. See puzzle.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Enigma is a GRE word you need to know.
So is emaciate. Does it mean:
lasting
make abnormally lean or thin by a gradual wasting away of flesh
Example Sentences
  • This game is indeed an enigma at times.
  • The world is an enormous enigma that science is solving gradually.
  • The brain is still an enigma.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
enigma (ɪˈnɪɡmə)
 
n
a person, thing, or situation that is mysterious, puzzling, or ambiguous
 
[C16: from Latin aenigma, from Greek ainigma, from ainissesthai to speak in riddles, from ainos fable, story]
 
enigmatic
 
adj
 
enig'matical
 
adj
 
enig'matically
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

enigma
mid-15c., from L. aenigma "riddle," from Gk. ainigma, from ainissesthai "speak obscurely, speak in riddles," from ainos "fable, riddle," of unknown origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

Enigma definition

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, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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