misconstrue (v.) Look up misconstrue at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "to put a wrong construction on" (words or deeds), from mis- (1) + construe. Related: Misconstrued; misconstruing.
miscount (v.) Look up miscount at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Old French mesconter "give a false statement; miscalculate, be wrong in reckoning;" see mis- (2) + count (v). Related: Miscounted; miscounting.
miscount (n.) Look up miscount at Dictionary.com
1580s, from mis- (1) + count (n.).
miscreant (adj.) Look up miscreant at Dictionary.com
c. 1300, "non-Christian, pagan, infidel;" early 15c., "heretical, unbelieving," from Old French mescreant "disbelieving" (Modern French mécréant), from mes- "wrongly" (see mis- (2)) + creant, present participle of creire "believe," from Latin credere (see credo). Meaning "villainous" is from 1590s.
miscreant (n.) Look up miscreant at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "heathen, Saracen," from miscreant (adj.) or from Old French mescreant, which also had a noun sense of "infidel, pagan, heretic." Sense of "villain" first recorded 1590 in Spenser.
miscredit (v.) Look up miscredit at Dictionary.com
1550s, from mis- (1) + credit (v.). Related: Miscredited; miscrediting.
miscue (n.) Look up miscue at Dictionary.com
1873, in billiards, "failure to strike the ball properly with the cue" from mis- (1) or perhaps miss (v.) + cue (2). General sense is attested from 1883.
misdate (v.) Look up misdate at Dictionary.com
1580s, from mis- (1) + date (v.1). Related: Misdated; misdating.
misdeal (v.) Look up misdeal at Dictionary.com
1746, "to make an error in dealing (cards);" from mis- (1) + deal (v.). The noun in this sense is attested from 1850. The original verbal sense (late 15c.) was "to distribute unfairly."
misdeed (n.) Look up misdeed at Dictionary.com
Old English misdæd "misdeed, evil deed, sin," common Germanic compound (compare Old Saxon misdad, Old Frisian misdede, Middle Dutch misdaet, German Missetat, Gothic missadeþs; see mis- (1) + deed (n.).
misdemeanor (n.) Look up misdemeanor at Dictionary.com
also misdemeanour, "legal class of indictable offenses," late 15c.; from mis- (1) "wrong" + Middle English demenure (see demeanor). Related: Misdemeanors; misdemeanours.
misdiagnose (v.) Look up misdiagnose at Dictionary.com
1897, from mis- (1) + diagnose. Related: Misdiagnosed; misdiagnosing.
misdiagnosis (n.) Look up misdiagnosis at Dictionary.com
1880, from mis- (1) + diagnosis.
misdial (v.) Look up misdial at Dictionary.com
"to dial a wrong number on a telephone," 1964; see mis- (1) + dial (v.). Related: Misdialed; misdialing.
misdirect (v.) Look up misdirect at Dictionary.com
c. 1600, "give wrong directions to;" see mis- (1) + direct (v.). Related: Misdirected; misdirecting.
misdirection (n.) Look up misdirection at Dictionary.com
1768, from mis- (1) + direction. Meaning "action of a conjurer, thief, etc. to distract someone" is from 1943.
misdivision (n.) Look up misdivision at Dictionary.com
1835, from mis- (1) + division.
misdo (v.) Look up misdo at Dictionary.com
Old English misdon, "to do evil or wrong, transgress, err," common Germanic compound (compare Old Frisian misdua, Middle Dutch misdoen, Old High German missituon, German misstun); see mis- (1) + do (v.). Meaning "to do (work, etc.) improperly" is from 1840. Related: Misdone; misdoing.
misdoubt (v.) Look up misdoubt at Dictionary.com
"to have doubts (of the reality of something)," 1540s; see mis- (1) + doubt (v.). Related: Misdoubted; misdoubting.
mise en scene Look up mise en scene at Dictionary.com
1833, from French mise en scène, literally "setting on the stage," from mise (13c.), literally "a putting, placing," noun use of fem. past participle of mettre "to put, place," from Latin mittere "to send" (see mission).
miseducate (v.) Look up miseducate at Dictionary.com
1790, from mis- (1) + educate (v.). Related: Miseducated; miseducating.
miseducation (n.) Look up miseducation at Dictionary.com
"wrong or faulty education," 1620s, from mis- (1) + education.
miser (n.) Look up miser at Dictionary.com
1540s, "miserable person, wretch," from Latin miser (adj.) "unhappy, wretched, pitiable, in distress," a word for which "no acceptable PIE pedigree has been found" [de Vaan]. Original sense now obsolete; main modern meaning of "money-hoarding person" recorded 1560s, from presumed unhappiness of such people.

Besides general wretchedness, the Latin word connoted also "intense erotic love" (compare slang got it bad "deeply infatuated") and hence was a favorite word of Catullus. In Greek a miser was kyminopristes, literally "a cumin seed splitter." In Modern Greek, he might be called hekentabelones, literally "one who has sixty needles." The German word, filz, literally "felt," preserves the image of the felt slippers which the miser often wore in caricatures. Lettish mantrausis "miser" is literally "money-raker."
miserable (adj.) Look up miserable at Dictionary.com
early 15c., "full of misery, causing wretchedness" (of conditions), from Old French miserable "prone to pity, merciful," and directly from Latin miserabilis "pitiable, miserable, deplorable, lamentable," from miserari "to pity, lament, deplore," from miser "wretched" (see miser). Of persons, "existing in a state of misery" it is attested from 1520s.
miserably (adv.) Look up miserably at Dictionary.com
c. 1400; see miserable + -ly (2).
Miserere (n.) Look up Miserere at Dictionary.com
51st Psalm (one of the Penitential Psalms), 13c., from Miserere mei Deus "Have mercy upon me, O God," opening line, from Latin miserere "feel pity, have compassion, commiserate," imperative of misereri "to have mercy," from miser (see miser). From 15c.-17c. used as an informal measure of time, "the time it takes to recite the Miserere." Also in miserere mei "kind of severe colic ('iliac passion') accompanied by excruciating cramps and vomiting of excrement" (1610s), literally "have mercy on me."
miserly (adj.) Look up miserly at Dictionary.com
1590s, from miser + -ly (1). Related: Miserliness.
misery (n.) Look up misery at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "condition of external unhappiness," from Old French misere "miserable situation, misfortune, distress" (12c.), from Latin miseria "wretchedness," from miser (see miser). Meaning "condition of one in great sorrow or mental distress" is from 1530s. Meaning "bodily pain" is 1825, American English.
misestimate (v.) Look up misestimate at Dictionary.com
1778, from mis- (1) + estimate (v.). Related: Misestimated; misestimating.
misfeasance (n.) Look up misfeasance at Dictionary.com
"wrongful exercise of lawful authority or improper performance of a lawful act," 1590s, from Middle French mesfaisance, from mesfaisant, present participle of Old French mesfaire "to misdo," from mes- "wrongly" (see mis- (2)) + faire "to do," from Latin facere "to make, do, perform" (see factitious).
misfield (v.) Look up misfield at Dictionary.com
1870, from mis- (1) + field (v.) in the sporting sense. Related: Misfielded; misfielding.
misfire (v.) Look up misfire at Dictionary.com
1752, of a gun, 1905, of an internal combustion engine; see mis- (1) + fire (v.). Related: Misfired; misfiring. The noun is attested from 1839.
misfit (n.) Look up misfit at Dictionary.com
1823, "garment which does not fit the person for whom it was intended;" see mis- (1) + fit (n.1). Meaning "person who does not fit his environment" is attested from 1880.
misfortune (n.) Look up misfortune at Dictionary.com
mid-15c., from mis- (1) + fortune. Related: Misfortunate.
misgiving (n.) Look up misgiving at Dictionary.com
c. 1600, "feeling of mistrust or sudden apprehension," verbal noun from misgive "cause to feel doubt" (1510s), usually said of one's heart or mind, from mis- (1) + give (v.) in its secondary Middle English sense of "suggest." Related: Misgivings.
misgovern (v.) Look up misgovern at Dictionary.com
c. 1400, from mis- (1) + govern. Related: Misgoverned; misgoverning.
misgovernance (n.) Look up misgovernance at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from mis- (1) + governance.
misgovernment (n.) Look up misgovernment at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from mis- (1) + government.
misguidance (n.) Look up misguidance at Dictionary.com
1630s, from mis- (1) + guidance.
misguide (v.) Look up misguide at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "to go astray;" see mis- (1) + guide (v.). Transitive sense of "to guide in the wrong direction" is first attested c. 1500. Related: Misguided; misguiding.
misguided (adj.) Look up misguided at Dictionary.com
"erring in purpose or action," 1650s, past participle adjective from misguide (v.). Earlier, "ill-behaved" (late 15c.). Related: Misguidedly; misguidedness.
mishandle (v.) Look up mishandle at Dictionary.com
c. 1500, from mis- (1) + handle (v.). Related: Mishandled; mishandling.
mishap (n.) Look up mishap at Dictionary.com
early 14c., "bad luck, unlucky accident," from mis- (1) "bad" + hap "luck." Probably on analogy of Old French meschance (see mischance (n.)).
mishappen (v.) Look up mishappen at Dictionary.com
early 14c., from mis- (1) + happen. Related: Mishappened; mishappening.
mishear (v.) Look up mishear at Dictionary.com
Old English mishieran, mishyran "to disobey;" see mis- (1) + hear. Sense of "to hear incorrectly" first recorded early 13c. Related: Misheard; mishearing.
mishmash (n.) Look up mishmash at Dictionary.com
also mish-mash, mid-15c., mysse-masche, probably an imitative reduplication of mash (n.).
Mishnaic (adj.) Look up Mishnaic at Dictionary.com
1718, "of or belonging to the Mishnah," the collection of oral law which forms the basis of the Talmud, from Hebrew, literally "repetition, instruction," from shanah "to repeat," in post-Biblical Hebrew "to teach or learn (oral tradition)."
misidentification (n.) Look up misidentification at Dictionary.com
1858, from mis- (1) + identification.
misidentify (v.) Look up misidentify at Dictionary.com
1895, from mis- (1) + identify. Related: Misidentified; misidentifying.
misinform (v.) Look up misinform at Dictionary.com
late 14c.; see mis- (1) + inform. Related: Misinformed; misinforming.