Online Etymology Dictionary

mire (v.): c. 1400, in figurative sense of "to involve in difficulties," from mire (n.). Literal sense is from 1550s. Related: Mired; miring.
mirepoix (n.): in cookery, 1815, from French, evidently named for Charles Pierre Gaston François, duc de Mirepoix (1699-1757), French diplomat. The concoction supposedly created by his head chef and named in his honor during the reign of Louis XV, one of the grand epochs of French cookery, when it was the style of the aristocracy to have dishes named in their honor.
MIREPOIX.--It is probable that one of these days the common sense of mankind will rise in rebellion against this word and abolish it. What is the Duke of Mirepoix to us because his wife was amiable to Louis XV.?
If she be not fair to me,
What care I how fair she be?
The Duke of Mirepoix made himself convenient to the king, and his name is now convenient to the people--the convenient name for the faggot of vegetables that flavours a stew or a sauce. ["Kettner's Book of the Table," London, 1877]
Miriam: fem. proper name, biblical sister of Moses and Aaron (Ex. xv:20), from Hebrew Miryam (see Mary).
mirror (n.): early 13c., from Old French mireoir "a reflecting glass, looking glass; observation, model, example," earlier miradoir (11c.), from mirer "look at" (oneself in a mirror), "observe, watch, contemplate," from Vulgar Latin *mirare "to look at," variant of Latin mirari "to wonder at, admire" (see miracle).

The Spanish cognate, mirador (from mirar "to look, look at, behold"), has come to mean "watch tower." Latin speculum "mirror" is the source of words for "mirror" in neighboring languages: Italian specchio, Spanish espejo, Old High German spiegal, German Spiegel, Dutch spiegel, Danish spejl, Swedish spegel. An ancient Germanic group of words for "mirror" is represented by Gothic skuggwa, Old Norse skuggsja, Old High German scucar, which are related to Old English scua "shade, shadow."
Words for 'mirror' are mostly from verbs for 'look', with a few words for 'shadow' or other sources. The common use of the word for the material 'glass' in the sense of 'mirror' seems to be peculiar to English. [Carl Darling Buck, "A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages," 1949]
Figurative usage is attested from c. 1300. Used in divination since classical and biblical times; mirrors in modern England are the subject of at least 14 known superstitions, according to folklorists. Belief that breaking one brings bad luck is attested from 1777. Mirror ball attested from 1968.
mirror (v.): "to reflect," 1590s, from mirror (n.). Related: Mirrored; mirroring. The Middle English verb mirouren (early 15c.) meant "to be a model" (for conduct, behavior, etc.), while miren (mid-14c., from Old French mirer) meant "to look in a mirror."
mirth (n.): Old English myrgð "joy, pleasure," from Proto-Germanic *murgitha (source also of Middle Dutch merchte), noun of quality from *murgjo- (see merry; also see -th (2)). Mirthquake "entertainment that excites convulsive laughter" first attested 1928, in reference to Harold Lloyd movies.
mirthful (adj.): c. 1300, from mirth + -ful. Related: Mirthfully; mirthfulness.
mirthless (adj.): late 14c., from mirth + -less. Related: Mirthlessly.
miry (adj.): late 14c., from mire (n.) + -y (2).
miryachit (n.): "nervous disorder peculiar to Siberia, in which the patient mimics everything said or done by another," from Russian, literally "to be epileptic."
mis- (1): prefix meaning "bad, wrong," from Old English mis-, from Proto-Germanic *missa- "divergent, astray" (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon mis-, Middle Dutch misse-, Old High German missa-, German miß-, Old Norse mis-, Gothic missa-), perhaps literally "in a changed manner," and with a root sense of "difference, change" (compare Gothic misso "mutually"), and thus from PIE *mit-to-, from root *mei- (1) "to change" (see mutable); see Watkins.

Others [Barnhart] see in Proto-Germanic *missa- the stem of an ancient past participle, related to Old English missan "fail to hit" (see miss (v.)), which is from the same PIE root.

Productive as word-forming element in Old English (as in mislæran "to give bad advice, teach amiss"). In 14c.-16c. in a few verbs its sense began to be felt as "unfavorably" and was used as an intensive prefix with verbs already expressing negative feeling (as in misdoubt). Practically a separate word in Old and early Middle English (and often written as such). Old English also had an adjective (mislic "diverse, unlike, various") and an adverb (mislice "in various directions, wrongly, astray") derived from it, corresponding to German misslich (adj.).
mis- (2): in mischief, miscreant, etc., represents Old French mes- "bad, badly, wrong, wrongly," from Vulgar Latin minus-, from Latin minus "less" (see minus), which was not used as a prefix. Perhaps influenced in Old French by *miss-, the Frankish equivalent of mis- (1).
misadventure (n.): late 13c., misaventure, from Old French mesaventure (12c.) "accident, mishap," from mesavenir "to turn out badly;" see mis- (2) + adventure (n.).
misaligned (adj.): 1903, from mis- (1) + past participle of align.
misalignment (n.): 1891, from mis- (1) + alignment.
misandry (n.): 1878, from miso- "hatred" + andros "of man, male human being" (see anthropo-). Related: Misandrist.
misanthrope (n.): "one who hates mankind," 1560s, from Greek misanthropos "hating mankind," from misein "to hate" (see miso-) + anthropos "man" (see anthropo-). Alternative form misanthropist is attested from 1650s.
misanthropic (adj.): 1762, from misanthrope + -ic. Earlier was misanthropical (1620s).
misanthropy (n.): 1650s, from Greek misanthropia "hatred of mankind," from misanthropos (see misanthrope).
misapplication (n.): c. 1600, from mis- (1) + application.
misapprehend (v.): 1640s, from mis- (1) + apprehend. Related: Misapprehended; misapprehending.
misapprehension (n.): 1620s; from mis- (1) + apprehension. Related: Misapprehensive.
misappropriate (v.): 1803, from mis- (1) + appropriate (v.). Related: Misappropriated; misappropriating.
misappropriation (n.): 1746; from mis- (1) + appropriation.
misattribution (n.): 1865, from mis- (1) + attribution.
misbefall (v.): "suffer harm, come to grief," mid-13c., from mis- (1) + befall. Related: Misbefell; misbefalling.
misbegotten (adj.): "bastard, illegitimate," 1550s, past participle adjective from obsolete misbeget (c. 1300); see mis- (1) + beget.
misbehave (v.): "conduct oneself improperly," late 15c.; see mis- (1) + behave. Related: Misbehaved; misbehaving.
misbehavior (n.): also misbehaviour, late 15c., from mis- (1) + behavior.
misbetide (v.): "have bad fortune, experience defeat," c. 1400, from mis- (1) + betide.
misborn (adj.): "abortive, premature, mis-shapen from birth," late Old English misboren "abortive, degenerate," from mis- (1) + born. From 1580s as "born of an unlawful union."
miscalculate (v.): 1705; from mis- (1) + calculate. Related: Miscalculated; miscalculating.
miscalculation (n.): 1720, from mis- (1) + calculation.
miscall (v.): mid-15c., from mis- (1) + call (v.). Related: Miscalled; miscalling.
miscarriage (n.): 1580s, "mistake, error;" 1610s, "misbehavior;" see miscarry + -age. Meaning "untimely delivery" is from 1660s. Miscarriage of justice is from 1875.
miscarry (v.): c. 1300, "go astray;" mid-14c., "come to harm, perish;" of persons, "to die," of objects, "to be lost or destroyed," from mis- (1) "wrongly" + caryen "to carry" (see carry (v.)). Meaning "deliver unviable fetus" first recorded 1520s; that of "fail, come to naught" (of plans or designs) is from c. 1600. Related: Miscarried; miscarrying.
miscast (v.): late 14c., "to cast (a glance, an 'eye') with evil intent" see mis- (1) + cast (v.). Theatrical sense of "to place an actor in an unsuitable roll" is first recorded 1927. Related: Miscasting.
miscegenate (v.): 1864; see miscegenation. Related: Miscegenated; miscegenating.
miscegenation (n.): "interbreeding of races," 1864, coined irregularly in American English from Latin miscere "to mix" (see mix (v.)) + genus "race" (see genus).
miscellaneous (adj.): 1630s, from Latin miscellaneus "mixed, miscellaneous," from miscellus "mixed," from miscere "to mix" (see mix (v.)). Related: Miscellaneously.
miscellany (n.): "a mixture, medley," 1590s, from Latin miscellanea "a writing on miscellaneous subjects," originally "meat hash, hodge-podge" (food for gladiators), neuter plural of miscellaneus (see miscellaneous).
mischance (n.): c. 1300, from Old French mescheance "misfortune, mishap, accident; wickedness, malice," from Vulgar Latin *minuscadentiam; see mis- (2) + chance (n.). Now usually "bad luck;" formerly much stronger: "calamity, disaster."
mischance (v.): 1540s, from mis- (1) + chance (v.). Related: Mischanced; mischancing.
mischief (n.): c. 1300, "evil condition, misfortune, need, want," from Old French meschief "misfortune, harm, trouble; annoyance, vexation" (12c., Modern French méchef), verbal noun from meschever "come or bring to grief, be unfortunate" (opposite of achieve), from mes- "badly" (see mis- (2)) + chever "happen, come to a head," from Vulgar Latin *capare "head," from Latin caput "head" (see capitulum). Meaning "harm or evil considered as the work of some agent or due to some cause" is from late 15c. Sense of "playful malice" first recorded 1784.

Mischief Night in 19c. England was the eve of May Day and of Nov. 5, both major holidays, and perhaps the original point was pilfering for the next day's celebration and bonfire; but in Yorkshire, Scotland, and Ireland the night was Halloween. The useful Middle English verb mischieve (early 14c.) has, for some reason, fallen from currency.
mischievous (adj.): early 14c., "unfortunate, disastrous," probably from mischief + -ous. Sense of "playfully malicious or annoying" first recorded 1670s. Related: Mischievously; mischievousness.
miscible (adj.): 1560s, from Medieval Latin miscibilis "mixable," from Latin miscere "to mix" (see mix (v.)).
miscommunication (n.): by 1959, from mis- (1) + communication. Related: Miscommunicate; miscommunicated.
misconceive (v.): late 14c., "to have a wrong notion of;" see mis- (1) + conceive. Related: Misconceived; misconceiving.
misconception (n.): 1660s, from mis- (1) + conception. Related: Misconceptions.
misconduct (n.): 1710, "bad management, neglect;" see mis- (1) + conduct (n.). Meaning "wrong conduct" is attested from 1729.