mis-

Mis-. Etym: [In words of Teutonic origin, fr. AS. mis-; akin to D. mis-, G. miss-, OHG. missa-, missi-, Icel. & Dan. mis-, Sw. miss-, Goth. missa-; orig., a p. p. from the root of G. meiden to shun, OHG. midan, AS. mi (Miss to fail of). In words from the French, fr. OF. mes-, F. mé-, mes-, fr. L. minus less (see Minus). In present usage these two prefixes are commonly confounded.] Defn: A prefix used adjectively and adverbially in the sense of amiss, wrong, ill, wrongly, unsuitably; as, misdeed, mislead, mischief, miscreant.

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