Refine this word faster
Enigma
Definitions
- 1 A German device used during World War II to encode strategic messages. historical
- 1 Something or someone puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable. countable, uncountable
"I was, and still am, an enigma to myself."
- 2 something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained wordnet
- 3 A riddle, or a difficult problem. countable, uncountable
"Some enigma, some riddle: come, thy l'envoy, begin."
- 4 a difficult problem wordnet
- 5 Riddles and puzzles, collectively. countable, uncountable
"From the beginning, readers of The Enigma of Arrival are likely to feel surrounded by enigma and puzzle."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 Mysteriousness; obscurity; a lack of clarity. countable, uncountable
"In those halcyon days I believed that the source of enigma was stupidity ."
- 7 A style of literature characterized by obscurity and hints of transcendental meaning. countable, uncountable
"But in a sense it is probably close to this book— a series of juxtaposed splinters of meaning, which perhaps once in ten million times will come out as a piece of interpretable prose, with the black pieces intervening, and possibly one could look at this as a one-in-ten million exercise in enigma perhaps meaning something."
- 8 Alternative letter-case form of Enigma. alt-of, countable, uncountable
"This U-boat consistently used Norddeich or Kootwijk frequencies for her shadowing reports, all of which were in enigma."
- 9 A protein with three LIM domains (a conserved cysteine- and histidine-rich structure of two adjacent zinc fingers) at the C terminus that regulates protein phosphorylation. countable, uncountable
"Members of this LIM protein family expressed in muscle include muscle LIM protein (MLP), enigma, actinin-associated LIM protein (ALP), cypher, four and a half LIM-only protein FHL/SLIM, and heart LIM protein (HLP)."
- 10 The Talaud kingfisher, Todiramphus enigma. countable, uncountable
"As noted by Fry (1980), if both forms were shown to be resident and breeding on Talaud, enigma must be accorded specific status."
- 11 Any of species of Oedaleonotus enigma of grasshoppers. countable, uncountable
"The principal species involved were the migratory grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fab.); the Packard grasshopper, Melanoplus packardii Scudd.; the clearwinged grasshopper, Camnula pellucida (Scudd.); and the Enigma Oedaleonotus enigma Scudd."
- 12 Any of species of Heliothis enigma of rare moths. countable, uncountable
"Unlike any other species except virescens , the base of the male valve in enigma is slightly expanded and is entirely covered by hair insertions; unlike virescens, the base of the valve is not expanded into a large corema."
Etymology
From Latin aenigma (“riddle”), being derived itself from the Ancient Greek verbal noun αἴνιγμα (aínigma, “dark saying, speaking in riddles”).
See also for "enigma"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: enigma