enigma

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enigma^¹

/ɪˈnɪɡmə/
/əˈnɪɡmə/

Rhymes with -ɪɡmə

Where it comes from

From Latin aenigma (“riddle”), being derived itself from the Ancient Greek verbal noun αἴνιγμα (aínigma, “dark saying, speaking in riddles”).

noun enigmas · enigmata · aenigma · ænigma

countable, uncountable Something or someone puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable. I was, and still am, an enigma to myself.
countable, uncountable A riddle, or a difficult problem. Some enigma, some riddle: come, thy l'envoy, begin.
countable, uncountable Riddles and puzzles, collectively. From the beginning, readers of The Enigma of Arrival are likely to feel surrounded by enigma and puzzle.
countable, uncountable Mysteriousness; obscurity; a lack of clarity. In those halcyon days I believed that the source of enigma was stupidity .
countable, uncountable A style of literature characterized by obscurity and hints of transcendental meaning. 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 pe
countable, uncountable Alternative letter-case form of Enigma This U-boat consistently used Norddeich or Kootwijk frequencies for her shadowing reports, all of which were in enigma.
countable, uncountable 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. 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).
countable, uncountable The Talaud kingfisher, Todiramphus enigma. As noted by Fry (1980), if both forms were shown to be resident and breeding on Talaud, enigma must be accorded specific status.
countable, uncountable Any member of the species Oedaleonotus enigma of grasshoppers. 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.
countable, uncountable Any member of the species Heliothis enigma of rare moths. 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.

Enigma^²

proper noun

historical A German device used during World War II to encode strategic messages.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: riddle, brain-teaser, conundrum, mystery, closed book, secret, puzzle, mysterious, puzzlement, poser, machine, clue, paradox, quandary, brainteaser, mystification

Translations

Every language

noun something puzzling, mysterious or inexplicable

Español	enigma
한국어	수수께끼 susukkekki
日本語	謎 nazo
中文	謎 /谜 mí
हिन्दी	पहेली pahelī, मुअम्मा muammā, राज़ rāz
Português	enigma, mistério
Français	énigme
Deutsch	Rätsel, Mysterium, Enigma
Italiano	enigma
Ελληνικά	αίνιγμα aínigma
Română	enigmă
Русский	зага́дка zagádka
Tiếng Việt	điều bí ẩn
العربية	لُغْز luḡz, غَامِضَة ḡāmiḍa
עברית	חִידָה ḥidá, תַּעֲלוּמָה ta'alumá

noun riddle, or a difficult problem

Español	enigma
한국어	수수께끼 susukkekki
日本語	謎 nazo
Português	enigma
Français	énigme
Deutsch	Rätsel, Knobelei, Rateaufgabe, Knobelaufgabe
Italiano	enigma, indovinello
Ελληνικά	αίνιγμα aínigma, πρόβλημα próvlima
Română	ghicitoare
Русский	зага́дка zagádka, головоло́мка golovolómka

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MLA

"enigma." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/enigma. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

enigma. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/enigma

Chicago

"enigma." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/enigma.

BibTeX

@misc{enigma_2026,
  title = {enigma},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/enigma},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}