misdeem

English edit

Etymology edit

Late 14th century, from Middle English misdemen, equivalent to mis- +‎ deem. Cognate with Icelandic misdæma (“to misjudge”).

Verb edit

misdeem (third-person singular simple present misdeems, present participle misdeeming, simple past and past participle misdeemed)

To misjudge, to deem wrongly.
- 1500s, Edmund Spenser, sonnet:
  The doubt which ye misdeem, fair love, is vain, / That fondly fear to lose your liberty; / […]
- 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, X, xxxviii:
  Nor say I this for that I aught misdeem / That Egypt's promis'd succors fail us might.

References edit

“misdeem”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.