misprision

misprision

English

WOTD – 4 November 2022

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪsˈpɹɪʒn̩/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪsˈpɹɪʒ(ə)n/
• Rhymes: -ɪʒən
• Hyphenation: mis‧pris‧ion

Etymology 1

From Late Middle English misprision, mesprision (“criminal offence or illegal action, especially one committed by a public official”) [and other forms],[1] from Anglo-Norman misprision, mesprision, mesprison (“criminal offence or illegal action; error, mistake, specifically an error by a court”) [and other forms] (whence Late Latin mesprisio, misprisio), and Old French mesprison, from mespris (“contempt, disdain”) (modern French mépris) + -ion (suffix indicating a condition or state).[2] Mespris is the past participle of mesprendre (“to misunderstand”), from mes- (prefix meaning ‘badly; wrongly’) + prendre (“to take”)[3] (from Latin prēndere, the present active infinitive of prēndō, a variant of prehendō (“to seize, take”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to find; to seize, take; to hold”)).

Noun

misprision (countable and uncountable, plural misprisions)

1. (law, chiefly historical)
   1. (uncountable) Criminal neglect or wrongful execution of duty, especially by a public official; (countable) a specific instance of this.
      • 1531, Thomas Elyot, “In what Wise Musike may be to a Noble Man Necessarie: And what Modestie ought to be therin”, in Ernest Rhys, editor, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman’s Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co, published [1907], OCLC 1026313858, 1st book, pages 26–27:

        [I]f any persone were perceiued to be absent, or were sene to laughe at the folye of the emperour [Nero], he was forthe with accused, as it were, of missprision: whereby the emperour founde occasion to committe him to prison or to put hym to tortures.

      • 1644, Edw[ard] Coke, “Of Bribery, Extortion, Exaction, &c. And First of Bribery.”, in The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England. […], London: […] M[iles] Flesher, for W[illiam] Lee, and D[aniel] Pakeman, OCLC 12388731, page 145:

        Bribery is a great miſpriſion, when any man in Judiciall place takes any Fee or Penſion, Robe, or Livery, Gift, Reward, or Brocage of any perſon, that hath to do before him any way, for doing his office, or by colour of his office, but of the King only, unleſſe it be of meat and drink, and that of ſmall value, upon divers, and grievous puniſhments.

   2. (uncountable) In full misprision of felony or misprision of treason: originally, a less serious form of felony or treason; later, the crime of (intentionally) failing to give information about a felony or treason that one knows about; (countable) an instance of this.

      misprision of heresy

      (literally, “the crime of failing to disclose heresy that one is aware of”)

      • 1769, William Blackstone, “Of Misprisions and Contempts, Affecting the King and Government”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book IV (Of Public Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, OCLC 65350522, page 119:

        Misprisions (a term derived from the old French, meſpris, a neglect or contempt) are, in the acceptation of our law, generally underſtood to be all ſuch high offences as are under the degree of capital, but nearly bordering thereon: and it is ſaid, that a miſpriſion is contained in every treaſon and felony whatſoever; and that, if the king ſo pleaſe, the offender may be proceeded againſt for the miſpriſion only. […] Miſpriſions are generally divided into two ſorts; negative, which conſiſt in the concealment of ſomething which ought to be revealed; and poſitive, which conſiſt in the commiſſion of ſomething which ought not to be done.

      • 1855, Charles Kingsley, “How Salvation Yeo Slew the King of the Gubbings”, in Westward Ho!: Or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, […], volume II, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., OCLC 1000395614, page 176:

        The argument was a worthless one in law; for Eustace had been a prisoner before he was a guest, and Amyas was guilty of something very like misprision of treason in not handing him over to the nearest justice.

      • 1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XXXII, in Middlemarch […], volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, OCLC 948783829, book III, page 161:

        Mr Borthrop Trumbull really knew nothing about old Featherstone's will; but he could hardly have been bought to declare any ignorance unless he had been arrested for misprision of treason.

2. (by extension)
   1. (uncountable) Misinterpretation or misunderstanding; (countable) an instance of this; a mistake.
      • c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby, published 1598, OCLC 61366361; republished as Shakspere’s Loves Labours Lost (Shakspere-Quarto Facsimiles; no. 5), London: W[illiam] Griggs, […], [1880], OCLC 1154977408, [Act IV, scene iii]:

        A Feuer in your blood vvhy then inciſion
        VVould let her out in Savvcers, ſvveete miſpriſon.^[sic]

      • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, OCLC 1041029189, [Act III, scene ii]:

        What haſt thou done? Thou haſt miſtaken quite,
        And laid the loue iuice on ſome true loues ſight.
        Of thy miſpriſion, muſt perforce enſue
        Some true loue turnd, and not a falſe turnd true.

      • 1984, Martin Amis, Money: A Suicide Note, London: Penguin Books, published 1985, →ISBN, page 331:

        [T]hey [women] have what men call self-belief and blame you for your misprisions in their dreams, they are conspiracy theorists, benevolent dictators […]

   2. (uncountable) Incorrect or unfair suspicion; (countable) an instance of this.

Usage notes

Where sense 2 (“less serious form of felony or treason; the crime of (intentionally) failing to give information about a felony or treason that one knows about”) is concerned, negative misprision is misprision by neglect of duty, notably a duty to report information about a felony or treason. Positive misprision is maladministration or the commission of other serious offence falling short of actual felony or treason.

Alternative forms

• missprision (obsolete, rare)

Translations

criminal neglect or wrongful execution of duty, especially by a public official; a specific instance of this

Chinese: Mandarin: 瀆職／渎职 (zh) (dúzhí) Polish: zaniedbanie (pl) n

less serious form of felony or treason; the crime of (intentionally) failing to give information about a felony or treason that one knows about; an instance of this

Russian: укрыва́тельство (ru) n (ukryvátelʹstvo)

misinterpretation or misunderstanding; an instance of this — See also translations at misinterpretation,‎ mistake,‎ misunderstanding

French: méprise (fr) f Russian: оши́бка (ru) f (ošíbka), недооце́нка (ru) f (nedoocénka), оши́бочная оце́нка f (ošíbočnaja océnka)

incorrect or unfair suspicion; an instance of this

Etymology 2

From misprize (“to despise or hold in contempt; to undervalue”) +‎ -ion (suffix indicating a condition or state), probably influenced by misprision (etymology 1).[4] Misprize is derived from Middle English mesprise, mespryse, from Anglo-Norman mespriser, Middle French mespriser, and Old French mesprisier, mesproisier (“to disdain, scorn; to despise, hate”) (modern French mépriser), from mes- (prefix meaning ‘badly; wrongly’) + priser, prisier (“to appraise, value”)[5] (from Late Latin pretiāre, the present active infinitive of pretiō (“to consider valuable, esteem, prize, value”), Medieval Latin pretiō (“to appraise, assess, value”), from Latin pretium (“cost, price; value, worth”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before; in front; first”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).

Noun

misprision (uncountable)

1. Despising or holding in contempt; disdain, scorn.

   Synonyms: (archaic) misprisal, (obsolete, rare) misprizement, (archaic) misprizing

   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s VVell, that Ends VVell”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene iii], page 238, column 1:

     Heere, take her hand, / Proud ſcornful boy, vnworthie this good gift, / That doſt in vile miſpriſion ſhackle vp / My loue, and her deſert: […]

   • 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter III, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], OCLC 742335644, page 42:

     [Y]ou may be one of those unhappy persons, whose dim eyes being unable to penetrate the starry spheres, and to discern therein the decrees of heaven at a distance, have their hearts barred against conviction by prejudice and misprision.

   • 1895, I[srael] Zangwill, “A Wander-year”, in The Master, London: William Heinemann, OCLC 5054735, book I, page 96:

     The boy was grievously distressed by the loss [of a book]; it seemed an insult to Ruth Hailey, and a misprision of her kindly wishes.

   • 1917, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “A Bad Beginning”, in Look! We Have Come Through!, London: Chatto & Windus, OCLC 560929966, page 77:

     What if I love you!—This misery / Of your dissatisfaction and misprision / Stupefies me.

2. Not seeing the value in something; undervaluing.

   Synonym: (archaic) misprizing

Related terms

• misprisal (archaic)
• misprize
• misprized (adjective)
• misprizement (obsolete, rare)
• misprizer (archaic)
• misprizing (noun, archaic)

 

Translations

despising or holding in contempt — see disdain,‎ scorn

not seeing the value in something — see undervaluing

References

1. “misprisiọ̄n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
2. “misprision, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2021; “misprision¹, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
3. “misprize, v.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
4. “misprision, n.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2018.
5. “misprize, v.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021; “misprize, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• misprision on Wikipedia.Wikipedia