misword
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
mis- + word; formed separately from Etymology 2.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌmɪsˈwɜːd/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˌmɪsˈwɚd/
Verb edit
misword (third-person singular simple present miswords, present participle miswording, simple past and past participle misworded)
- (transitive) To word incorrectly.
- I misworded my offer: I meant help, not rescue.
Synonyms edit
Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English mysword; equivalent to mis- + word.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɪsˌwɜːd/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmɪsˌwɚd/
Noun edit
misword (plural miswords)
- (obsolete, in later use dialectal) An insult.
- 1659-1661, Thomas Rugge, Diurnal[1]:
- He then came down, took away his ladder, not a misword said to him, and by whose order it was done was not then known.
- 1846, “The Young Market-Woman”, in Belford Regis; Or, Sketches of a Country Town[2], Richard Bentley, page 237:
- And, as for yourself, Master Matthew, why I 've known you these fifty years, and never heard man, woman, or child speak a misword of you in my life.
- 1934, Alfred Allen Brockington, Mysticism and Poetry on a Basis of Experience[3], Kennikat Press, page 24:
- A woman who used to work in my house told me that she 'never 'ad a misword with her 'usband.'
Middle English edit
Noun edit
misword
- Alternative form of mysword