misaccount

misaccount

English

Etymology

From Middle English misaccounten, equivalent to mis- +‎ account.

Verb

misaccount (third-person singular simple present misaccounts, present participle misaccounting, simple past and past participle misaccounted)

1. (transitive) to account badly, wrongfully, or in error
   • 1846, Mrs. Gore (Catherine Grace Frances), Men of Capital - Volume 3:

     […] having transpired in the village previous to the still more remarkable event which had struck dismay into the hearts of young and old, the journey was instantly attributed by those idle talkers who love nothing better than to misaccount for the movements and motives of their neighbours, […]

Noun

misaccount (plural misaccounts)

1. A bad or wrong account; an incorrect narrative.
   • 1998, Robbie P. Kahn, Bearing Meaning: The Language of Birth:

     Oakley shows how a misaccount arises from “masculine ambivalence" about birth, which obstructs women from producing new accounts.