mys-

Middle English

Alternative forms

• mes-, mis-

Etymology

From Old English mis-, from Proto-West Germanic *missa-, from Proto-Germanic *missa-. Reinforced by Old French mes-, ultimately from the same Proto-Germanic source.

While forms in -y- are definitely partly attributable to a desire to avoid the confusion of minims, they may have been encouraged by association with words such as mysterie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mis-/, /mɛs-/

Prefix

mys-

1. mis- (badly, wrongly)
2. mis- (incorrectly, erroneously)

Derived terms

Middle English terms prefixed with mys-

Descendants

• English: mis-
• Scots: mis-

References

• “mis-, pref.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.