Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Mis'-de-mēan'-or, n. p. 844Ill behavior; evil conduct; fault; mismanagement. 2. (Law.) Any crime less than a felony. The term applies to all offenses for which the law has not furnished a particular name. New Am. Cyc. Wharton.…Mis'de-pārt', v. t. p. 844To divide or distribute wrongly or unequally. [Obs.] “He misdeparteth riches temporal.” Chaucer.Mis'de-rīve', v. t. p. 844To err in deriving.Mis'de-scribe', v. t. p. 844To describe erroneously.Mis'de-sērt', n. p. 844Ill desert. [Obs.] Spenser.Mis'de-vō'tion, n. p. 844False devotion; mistaken piety. [Obs.] Donne.Mis-di'et, n. p. 844Improper diet or food. [Obs.] Spenser.Mis-dight′, a. p. 844Arrayed, prepared, or furnished wrongly or unfitly. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.Mis'di-rēct', v. t. p. 844To give a wrong direction to; as, to misdirect a passenger. 2. To direct to a wrong person or place; as, to misdirect a letter.Mis'di-rēc'tion, n. p. 844The act of directing wrongly. 2. (Law.) An error of a judge in charging the jury.Mis-dis'po-si'tion, n. p. 844Disposition to evil. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.Mĭs'dis-tĭn'guish, v. t. p. 844To make wrong distinctions in or concerning.Mis'di-vīde', v. t. p. 844To divide wrongly.Mis'dĭ-vī'sion, n. p. 844Wrong or inaccurate division.Mis-dō', v. t. p. 844To do wrongly.Mis-dō', v. i. p. 844To do wrong; to do amiss; to commit a fault or crime. Milton.Mis-do'er, n. p. 844One who misdoes; one who commits a fault or crime; a wrong-doer. Spenser.Mis-dō'ing, n. p. 844A wrong done; a fault or crime; an offense.Mis-doubt', v. t. p. 844To suspect of deceit or danger; to be suspicious of; to regard with foreboding of evil. [Obs.] “Misdoubt him not.” Beau. & Fl.Mis-doubt', v. i. p. 844To have suspicion; to suspect. [Obs.]Mis-doubt', n. p. 844Suspicion of crime or danger. 2. Irresolution; hesitation. [Obs.] Now, York, or never, steel thy fearful thoughts, And change misdoubt to resolution. Shak.Mis-doubt'ful, a. p. 844Misgiving. [Obs.] She 'gan to cast in her misdoubtful mind A thousand fears. Spenser.Mis-drēad’, n. p. 844Dread of evil. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.MĪse, n. p. 844(Law.) The issue in a writ of right. 2. Expense; cost; disbursement. 3. A tax or tallage; in Wales, an honorary gift of the people to a new king or prince of Wales; also, a tribute paid, in the…Mis-ēase', n. p. 844Want of ease; uneasiness. [Obs.]Mis-ēas'y, a. p. 844Not easy; painful; uneasy. [Obs.]Mis'e-dī'tion, n. p. 844An incorrect or spurious edition. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.Mis-ēd'ū-cā'ted, a. p. 844Educated in a wrong manner.Mis'em-ploy', v. t. p. 844To employ to no purpose, or to a bad purpose; to use amiss; as, to misemploy time, power, advantages, talents, &c.Mis'em-ploy'ment, n. p. 844Ill employment; application to no purpose, or to a bad purpose.Mis'en-trēat', v. t. p. 844To treat wrongfully or injuriously.Mis-èn’try, n. p. 844An erroneous entry or charge, as of an account.Mi'ser, n. p. 844A miserable person; one wretched or afflicted. [Obs.] Spenser. 2. A wretch; a mean fellow; especially, an extremely covetous person; a sordid wretch; a niggard; one who in wealth makes himself…Mis'er-a-ble, a. p. 844Very unhappy; in a state of misery or distress; wretched; suffering from any cause. It expresses somewhat less than wretched. What hopes delude thee, miserable man? Dryden. 2. Causing unhappiness or…Mĭs'er-a-ble-ness, n. p. 844The state of being miserable; poorness.Mis'er-a-bly, adv. p. 844In a miserable manner; unhappily; calamitously; wretchedly; meanly. They were miserably entertained. Sidney. The fifth was miserably stabbed to death. South.Mĭs'er-ā'tion, n. p. 844Commiseration; pity. [Obs.]Mĭs'e-rē're, n. p. 844(Rom. Cath. Church.) The psalm usually appointed for penitential acts, being the 51st psalm, which commences with this word. 2. (Mus.) A musical composition adapted to the 51st psalm. 3. (Arch.) A…Mis'er-i-côrd', n. p. 844Compassion; pity; sympathy. [Obs.] Chaucer. Gower. 2. (Arch.) See MISERERE.Mĭs'er-i-cōr'di-a, n. p. 844(O. Law.) An amercement. Burrill. 2. (Anc. Armor.) A narrow-bladed dagger used by a knight in the middle ages;—so called because employed against a dismounted adversary whom he had forced to cry for…Mis'er-ly, a. p. 844Very covetous; sordid; niggardly; parsimonious. Syn.—Avaricious; niggardly; sordid; parsimonious; penurious; covetous; stingy; mean. See Avaricious.Mis'er-y, n. p. 844Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe. Miseria is as really the fruit of vice reigning in the heart, as tares are the produce of tares sown in the field. J.…Mis'es-teem', n. p. 844Want of esteem; disrespect.Mis-ĕs'ti-māte, v. t. p. 844To estimate erroneously.Mis-ēx'pla-nā'tion, n. p. 844An erroneous explanation.Mis-ēx'pli-cā'tion, n. p. 844Wrong explication.Mis-ĕx'po-si'tion, n. p. 844Wrong exposition.Mis'ex-pound', v. t. p. 844To expound erroneously.Mis'ex-prĕs'sion, n. p. 844Erroneous expression.Mis'faith, n. p. 844Want of faith: distrust. Tennyson.Mis-fall', v. t. p. 844To befall, as ill luck; to happen to unluckily. [Obs.] Spenser.Mis-fâre', n. p. 844Ill fare; misfortune. [Obs.] Spenser.Mis-fâre’, v. i. p. 844To be in an ill state; to fare ill. [Obs.] Spenser.Mis-fash’ion, v. t. p. 844To form wrongly. Halevill.Mis-fēa'sance, n. p. 844(Law.) A trespass; a wrong done; the improper doing of an act which a person might lawfully do. Bouvier. Wharton.Mis-feign’, v. i. p. 844To feign with an ill design. [Obs.] Spenser.Mis-fit', n. p. 844A bad fit. I saw an uneasy change in Mr. Micawber, which sat tightly on him, as if his new duties were a misfit. Dickens.Mis-fôrm', v. t. p. 844To make an ill form of; to put into an ill shape. Spenser.Mis'for-mā'tion, n. p. 844An irregularity of formation.Mis-fōrt'ū-nate, a. p. 844Producing misfortune; unfortunate. [Obs.] H. Taylor.