misunderstanding

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪsʌndəˈstændɪŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪsʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ændɪŋ
• Hyphenation: mis‧un‧der‧stand‧ing

Noun

misunderstanding (plural misunderstandings)

1. A mistake as to the meaning of something or a specific point of view; erroneous interpretation or comprehension; misconception.
   • 1965, Haile Selassie, African Liberation Day speech:

     Because of misunderstandings among certain member states of the Organization of African Unity's voices have been occasionally raised recently against the convocation of the Assembly in Accra. Nonetheless, the regular Assembly of the Heads of State and Government was, in the first place, designed to find peaceful solutions, through deliberations and frank exchange of views to such misunderstandings among member-states.

2. A disagreement; difference of opinion; dissension; quarrel.
   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 198:

     It was only months and months afterwards, when I made the attempt to recover what was left of the body, that I heard the original quarrel arose from a misunderstanding about some hens.

Translations

mistake

• Afrikaans: misverstand
• Albanian: keqkuptim (sq)
• Arabic: سُوء فَهْم m (sūʔ fahm)
• Armenian: թյուրիմացություն (hy) (tʻyurimacʻutʻyun)
• Catalan: malentès (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 誤會／误会 (zh) (wùhuì), 誤解／误解 (zh) (wùjiě)

• Czech: nedorozumění (cs) n
• Danish: misforståelse (da) c
• Dutch: misverstand (nl) n
• Esperanto: miskompreno
• Estonian: segadus (et)
• Finnish: väärinymmärrys (fi), väärinkäsitys (fi), sekaannus (fi)
• French: malentendu (fr) m, quiproquo (fr) m
• Galician: malentendido m
• German: Missverständnis (de) n
• Greek: παρεξήγηση (el) f (parexígisi)
• Hebrew: אי-הבנה f (í-havaná)
• Hungarian: félreértés (hu)
• Indonesian: kesalahpahaman (id)
• Italian: fraintendimento (it) m, qui pro quo (it), quiproquò
• Japanese: 誤解 (ja) (ごかい, gokai), 勘違い (ja) (かんちがい, kanchigai)
• Korean: 오해(誤解) (ko) (ohae), 착각(錯覺) (ko) (chakgak)
• Latin: ambiguitas f
• Macedonian: недоразбирање n (nedorazbiranje)
• Maori: pōhēhētanga
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: үл ойлголцол (ül ojlgolcol), эндүүрэл (mn) (endüürel)

• Plautdietsch: Misvestentniss n
• Polish: nieporozumienie (pl) n
• Portuguese: mal-entendido m, confusão (pt) f
• Russian: недоразуме́ние (ru) n (nedorazuménije), непра́вильное понима́ние n (neprávilʹnoje ponimánije)
• Scottish Gaelic: mì-bhreithneachadh m, mì-thuigsinn f
• Serbo-Croatian: nesporazum (sh) m
• Sicilian: malantisa f
• Spanish: malentendido (es) m, qui pro quo m (very formal), confusión (es) f
• Swedish: missförstånd (sv) n
• Turkish: yanlış anlama
• Ukrainian: непорозумі́ння (uk) n (neporozumínnja)
• Walloon: mescomprindance (wa) f, måletindou m

disagreement

• Afrikaans: misverstand
• Ukrainian: непорозумі́ння (uk) n (neporozumínnja)

Verb

misunderstanding

1. present participle and gerund of misunderstand

Further reading

• “misunderstanding”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “misunderstanding”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English misunderstanding.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.zan.derˈstɛn.dinɡ/
• Rhymes: -ɛndinɡ

Noun

misunderstanding m (invariable)

1. (informal, neologism) misunderstanding, misconception, incomprehension

   Synonyms: equivoco, fraintendimento, incomprensione, malinteso, qui pro quo