mismean

mismean

English

Etymology

From mis- +‎ mean.

Verb

mismean (third-person singular simple present mismeans, present participle mismeaning, simple past and past participle mismeant)

1. (transitive) To mean or intend wrongly; mistake the meaning of; misinterpret.
   • 1914, Granville Stanley Hall, Carl Allanmore Murchison, The Journal of genetic psychology:

     If we ever misstate the facts it is, alas, because sometimes we mismean the proposition that we utter.

   • 1978, Clayton Eshleman, What she means:

     To mismean is not to mean; to mismean is to honor a meaning glimpsed but unmeant.

Derived terms

• mismeaning

Anagrams

• ammines, misname