- misconstrue (v.)
- late 14c., "to put a wrong construction on" (words or deeds), from mis- (1) + construe. Related: Misconstrued; misconstruing.
- miscount (v.)
- 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.)
- 1580s, from mis- (1) + count (n.).
- miscreant (adj.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 1550s, from mis- (1) + credit (v.). Related: Miscredited; miscrediting.
- miscue (n.)
- 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.)
- 1580s, from mis- (1) + date (v.1). Related: Misdated; misdating.
- misdeal (v.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- also misdemeanour, "legal class of indictable offenses," late 15c.; from mis- (1) "wrong" + Middle English demenure (see demeanor). Related: Misdemeanors; misdemeanours.
- misdiagnose (v.)
- 1897, from mis- (1) + diagnose. Related: Misdiagnosed; misdiagnosing.
- misdiagnosis (n.)
- 1880, from mis- (1) + diagnosis.
- misdial (v.)
- "to dial a wrong number on a telephone," 1964; see mis- (1) + dial (v.). Related: Misdialed; misdialing.
- misdirect (v.)
- c. 1600, "give wrong directions to;" see mis- (1) + direct (v.). Related: Misdirected; misdirecting.
- misdirection (n.)
- 1768, from mis- (1) + direction. Meaning "action of a conjurer, thief, etc. to distract someone" is from 1943.
- misdivision (n.)
- 1835, from mis- (1) + division.
- misdo (v.)
- 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.)
- "to have doubts (of the reality of something)," 1540s; see mis- (1) + doubt (v.). Related: Misdoubted; misdoubting.
- mise en scene
- 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.)
- 1790, from mis- (1) + educate (v.). Related: Miseducated; miseducating.
- miseducation (n.)
- "wrong or faulty education," 1620s, from mis- (1) + education.
- miser (n.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- c. 1400; see miserable + -ly (2).
- Miserere (n.)
- 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.)
- 1590s, from miser + -ly (1). Related: Miserliness.
- misery (n.)
- 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.)
- 1778, from mis- (1) + estimate (v.). Related: Misestimated; misestimating.
- misfeasance (n.)
- "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.)
- 1870, from mis- (1) + field (v.) in the sporting sense. Related: Misfielded; misfielding.
- misfire (v.)
- 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.)
- 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.)
- mid-15c., from mis- (1) + fortune. Related: Misfortunate.
- misgiving (n.)
- 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.)
- c. 1400, from mis- (1) + govern. Related: Misgoverned; misgoverning.
- misgovernance (n.)
- late 14c., from mis- (1) + governance.
- misgovernment (n.)
- late 14c., from mis- (1) + government.
- misguidance (n.)
- 1630s, from mis- (1) + guidance.
- misguide (v.)
- 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.)
- "erring in purpose or action," 1650s, past participle adjective from misguide (v.). Earlier, "ill-behaved" (late 15c.). Related: Misguidedly; misguidedness.
- mishandle (v.)
- c. 1500, from mis- (1) + handle (v.). Related: Mishandled; mishandling.
- mishap (n.)
- early 14c., "bad luck, unlucky accident," from mis- (1) "bad" + hap "luck." Probably on analogy of Old French meschance (see mischance (n.)).
- mishappen (v.)
- early 14c., from mis- (1) + happen. Related: Mishappened; mishappening.
- mishear (v.)
- Old English mishieran, mishyran "to disobey;" see mis- (1) + hear. Sense of "to hear incorrectly" first recorded early 13c. Related: Misheard; mishearing.
- mishmash (n.)
- also mish-mash, mid-15c., mysse-masche, probably an imitative reduplication of mash (n.).
- Mishnaic (adj.)
- 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.)
- 1858, from mis- (1) + identification.
- misidentify (v.)
- 1895, from mis- (1) + identify. Related: Misidentified; misidentifying.
- misinform (v.)
- late 14c.; see mis- (1) + inform. Related: Misinformed; misinforming.