A- (3) prefix meaning "not," from Gk a-, an- "not," from pie base *ne "not" (see un-)

minority --- 1533, "condition of being smaller," from M.L. minoritatem (nom. minoritas), from L. minor (see minor). Meaning "state of being under legal age" is from 1547; that of "smaller number or part" is from 1736. The meaning "group of people separated from the rest of a community by race, religion, language, etc." is from 1921.

Minotaur --- c.1385, from Gk. minotauros, from Minos, king of Crete + tauros "bull." A flesh-eating monster half man, half bull, son of Pasiphæ, wife of Minos, and a bull.

minster --- O.E. mynster "the church of a monastery," from L.L. monasterium (see monastery). Cf. O.Fr. moustier, Fr. moûtier, O.Ir. manister.

minstrel --- c.1225, from O.Fr. menestral "entertainer, servant," from M.L. ministralis "servant, jester, singer," from L.L. ministerialem (nom. ministerialis) "imperial household officer, one having an official duty," from ministerialis (adj.) "ministerial," from L. ministerium (see ministry). The connecting notion is via the jester, etc., as a court position. Specific sense of "musician" developed in O.Fr., but in Eng. until 16c. the word was used of anyone (singers, storytellers, jugglers, buffoons) whose profession was to entertain patrons. Only in 18c. was the word limited, in a historical sense, to "medieval singer of heroic or lyric poetry who accompanied himself on a stringed instrument." Ref. to blackface music acts in U.S. is from 1843. Minstrelsy is 13c. Anglo-Fr. menestralsie, from O.Fr. menestrel.

mint (1) --- aromatic herb, O.E. minte, from W.Gmc. *minta (cf. O.H.G. minze, Ger. Minze), from L. menta, mentha "mint," from Gk. minthe, personified as a nymph transformed into a herb by Proserpine, probably a loan-word from a lost Mediterranean language.

mint (2) --- place where money is coined, O.E. mynit "coin," from W.Gmc. *munita, from L. moneta "mint" (cf. O.Fris. menote, M.Du. munte, Ger. münze; see money). It meant "coin" at first in Eng.; sense of "place where money is made" first recorded 1423. General sense of "a vast sum of money" is from 1655. The verb is 1546, from the noun. The adj. meaning "perfect" (like a freshly minted coin) is from 1902.

minuet --- slow dance in triple measure, 1673, from Fr. menuet, from O.Fr. menuet (adj.) "small, delicate," from menu "small," from L. minutus "small, minute." So called from the short steps taken in the dance.

minus --- 1481, "with subtraction of," from L. minus "less," neut. of minor "smaller," from PIE *mi-nu-, from base *mei- "small" (cf. Skt. miyate "diminishes, declines," Gk. meion "less, smaller," Rus. men'she "less," O.E. minsian "to diminish"). Mathematical use in expressions of calculation did not exist in classical L., and is probably from North Sea medieval commercial usage of L. plus and minus to indicate surplus or deficiency of weight or measure.

minuscule --- c.1730, "small (not capital) letter," from Fr. minuscule, from L. minuscula, in minuscula littera "slightly smaller letter," fem. of minusculus "rather less," dim. of minus "less" (see minus). Extended meaning of "extremely small" is first attested 1893.

minute (adj.) --- c.1420, "chopped small," from L. minutus "small," pp. of minuere "lessen," related to minor (q.v.). Meaning "very small in size or degree" is attested from c.1626.

minute (n.) --- 1377, "sixtieth part of an hour," from O.Fr. minut, from M.L. minuta "minute, short note," from L. minuta, fem. of minutus "small, minute" (see minute (adj.)). In M.L., pars minuta prima "first small part" was used by mathematician Ptolemy for one-sixtieth of a circle, later of an hour (next in order was secunda minuta, which became second (n.)). The pl. minutes "record of proceedings" developed c.1710, perhaps from L. minuta scriptura "rough notes," lit. "small writing."

minuteman --- U.S. history, class of militia available for immediate service, 1774. As the name of a type of ICBM, from 1961, so called because they could be launched with very little preparation.

minutia --- 1751, pl. minutiæ, from L. minutia "smallness" (pl. minutiæ, in L.L. "trifles"), from minutus "small" (see minute (adj.)).

minx --- 1542, mynx "pet dog," later "pert girl, hussy" (1592), of uncertain origin, perhaps a shortening of minikin "girl, woman," from M.Du. minnekijn "darling, beloved," from minne "love" (see minnesinger) + -kijn, dim. suffix.

Miocene --- geological period between the Oligocene and Pliocene, 1831, irregular formation from Gk. meion "less" + kainos "new, recent."

Mir --- space station, from Rus., lit. "peace, world," also "village, community," from O.C.S. miru "peace," from Proto-Slavic *miru "commune, joy, peace" ("possibly borrowed from Iranian" -Watkins), from PIE base *mei- "to bind" (see miter (1)). O.C.S. miru was "used in Christian terminology as a collective 'community of peace' " [Buck], translating Gk. kosmos. Hence, "the known world, mankind."

mirabile dictu --- 1831, from L., lit. "wonderful to relate." Found in Virgil.

miracle --- 1137, from O.Fr. miracle, from L. miraculum "object of wonder" (in Church L., "marvelous event caused by God"), from mirari "to wonder at," from mirus "wonderful," from *smeiros, from PIE *(s)mei- "to smile, be astonished" (cf. Skt. smerah "smiling," Gk. meidan "to smile," O.C.S. smejo "to laugh;" see smile). Replaced O.E. wundortacen, wundorweorc. The Gk. words rendered as miracle in the Eng. Bibles were semeion "sign," teras "wonder," and dynamis "power," in Vulgate translated respectively as signum, prodigium, and virtus. First record of miraculous is from 1502.

mirage --- optical illusion of water in sandy deserts, 1812, from Fr. mirage, from se mirer "to be reflected," from L. mirare (see mirror).

Miranda (1) --- fem. proper name, lit. fem. of L. mirandus "worthy to be admired," gerundive of mirari "to admire" (see mirror).

Miranda (2) --- criminal suspects' arrest rights in U.S., 1967, in ref. to Fifth Amendment cases ruled on by U.S. Supreme Court June 13, 1966, under heading Ernesto A. Miranda v. the State of Arizona.

mire --- c.1300, from O.N. myrr "bog, swamp," cognate with O.E. mos "bog" (see moss). The verb is first attested c.1400 in the fig. sense of "to involve in difficulties."

Miriam --- fem. proper name, biblical sister of Moses and Aaron (Ex. xv.20), from Heb. Miryam (see Mary).

mirror --- c.1225, from O.Fr. mireor "a reflecting glass," earlier miradoir (11c.), from mirer "look at," from V.L. *mirare, from L. mirari "to wonder at, admire" (see miracle). Fig. usage is attested from c.1300. The verb. meaning "to reflect" is first attested 1820 in Keats's "Lamia." Used in divination since classical and biblical times; mirrors in modern England are the subject of at least 14 known superstitions, according to folklorists. Belief that breaking one brings bad luck is attested from 1777.

mirth --- O.E. myrgð "joy, pleasure," from P.Gmc. *murgitha, noun of quality from *murgjo- (see merry). Mirthquake "entertainment that excites convulsive laughter" first attested 1928, in ref. to Harold Lloyd movies.

miryachit --- nervous disorder peculiar to Siberia, in which the patient mimics everything said or done by another, from Rus., lit. "to be epileptic."

mis- (1) --- prefix meaning "bad, wrong," from O.E. mis-, from P.Gmc. *missa- "divergent, astray" (cf. O.Fris. mis-, M.Du. misse-, O.H.G. missa-, Ger. miß-, O.N. mis-, Goth. missa-), perhaps with a root sense of "difference, change" (cf. Goth. misso "mutually"), and thus from PIE *mit-to-, from base *mei- "to change" (see mutable). Others see in P.Gmc. *missa- the stem of an ancient pp., related to O.E. missan "fail to hit" (see miss (v.)), which is from the same PIE base. Used both with sense of "incorrect" (mistake) and "bad" (mishap); in 14c.-16c. in a few verbs it began to be felt as "unfavorably" and was used as an intensive prefix with verbs already expressing negative feeling (e.g. misdoubt). Practically a separate word in O.E. and early M.E. (and often written as such). O.E. had an adj. (mislic "diverse, unlike, various") and an adv. (mislice "in various directions, wrongly, astray") derived from it, corresponding to Ger. misslich (adj.).

mis- (2) --- in a handful of words (mischief, miscreant, etc.) represents O.Fr. mes- "bad(ly), wrong(ly)," from V.L. minus-, from L. minus "less," which was not used as a prefix. Perhaps infl. on O.Fr. by the Frank. equivalent of mis- (1).

misadventure --- c.1290, from O.Fr. mesaventure (12c.), from mesavenir "to turn out badly;" see mis- (2) + adventure.

misanthrope --- one who hates mankind, 1563, from Gk. misanthropos "hating mankind," from misein "to hate" + anthropos "man" (see anthropo-). Alternate form misanthropist is attested from 1656.

misapprehension --- 1629; see mis- (1) + apprehend.

misappropriation --- 1794; see mis- (1) + appropriate (v.).

misbegotten --- bastard, illegitimate, 1554, pp. adj. from obsolete misbeget (1297); see mis- (1) + beget.

misbehave --- 1475; see mis- (1) + behave.

miscalculate --- 1705; see mis- (1) + calculation.

miscarry --- 1340, "to come to harm, perish;" of persons, "to die," of objects, "to be lost or destroyed," from mis- (1) "wrongly" + caryen "carry" (see carry). Meaning "deliver unviable fetus" first recorded 1527; that of "fail, come to naught" (of plans or designs) is from 1607. Miscarriage is attested from 1662; miscarriage of justice is from 1875.

miscast --- 1390, "to cast (a glance, an 'eye') with evil intent" see mis- (1) + cast (v.). Theatrical sense of "to place an actor in an unsuitable roll" is first recorded 1927.

miscegenation --- 1864, coined irregularly in Amer.Eng. from L. miscere "mix" + genus "race" (see genus).

miscellaneous --- 1637, from L. miscellaneus, from miscellus "mixed," from miscere "to mix." Miscellany "a mixture, medley" is from 1599, from L. miscellanea "a writing on miscellaneous subjects," neut. pl. of miscellaneus.

mischance --- 1297, from O.Fr. meschance, from V.L. *minuscadentiam; see mis- (2) + chance. Now usually "bad luck;" formerly much stronger: "calamity, disaster."

mischief --- c.1300, "evil condition, misfortune, need, want," from O.Fr. meschief (Fr. méchef), verbal noun from meschever "come or bring to grief, be unfortunate" (opposite of achieve), from mes- "badly" (see mis- (2)) + chever "happen, come to a head," from V.L. *capare "head," from L. caput "head" (see head). Meaning "harm or evil considered as the work of some agent or due to some cause" is from 1480. Sense of "playful malice" first recorded 1784. Mischief Night in 19c. England was the eve of May Day and of Nov. 5, both major holidays, and perhaps the original point was pilfering for the next day's celebration and bonfire; but in Yorkshire, Scotland, and Ireland the night was Halloween. The useful M.E. verb mischieve (c.1330) has, for some reason, fallen from currency.

mischievous --- c.1330, "unfortunate, disastrous" (see mischief). Sense of "playfully malicious or annoying" first recorded c.1676.

miscible --- 1570, from M.L. miscibilis "mixable," from L. miscere "to mix" (see mix).

misconceive --- c.1386, "to have a wrong notion of;" see mis- (1) + conceive. Hence, misconception (1665).

misconduct (n.) --- 1710, "bad management, neglect;" see mis- (1) + conduct (n.). Meaning "wrong conduct" is attested from 1729.

misconstrue --- c.1374, "to put a wrong construction on" (words or deeds), from mis- (1) + construe (see construct).

miscreant (adj.) --- c.1330, "heretical, unbelieving, infidel," from O.Fr. mescreant, from mes- "wrongly" (see mis- (2)) + creant, prp. of creire "believe," from L. credere. The noun is attested from c.1380; originally "heathen, Saracen;" sense of "villain" first recorded 1590 in Spenser.

miscue --- 1873, in billiards, "failure to strike the ball properly with the cue" from mis- (1) or perhaps miss (v.) + cue (2). General sense is attested from 1883.

misdeal (v.) --- 1746, "to make an error in dealing (cards);" see mis- (1) + deal (v.). The noun is attested from 1850.

misdeed --- O.E. misdæd, common Gmc. compound (cf. O.S. misdad, O.Fris. misdede, M.Du. misdaet, Ger. missetat, Goth. missadeþs; see mis- (1) + deed.

misdemeanor --- legal class of indictable offenses, 1487; from mis- (1) "wrong" + M.E. demenure (see demeanor).

misdial --- to dial a wrong number on a telephone, 1964; see mis- (1) + dial (v.).

misdirect --- 1603, "give wrong directions to;" see mis- (1) + direct (v.). First record of misdirection "action of a conjurer, thief, etc. to distract someone" is from 1943.

misdo --- O.E. misdon, "to do evil or wrong," common Gmc. compound (cf. O.Fris. misdua, M.Du. misdoen, Ger. misstun); see mis- (1) + do. Meaning "to do (work, etc.) improperly" is from 1840.

misdoubt (v.) --- to have doubts (of the reality of something), c.1540; see mis- (1) + doubt.

miseducation --- wrong or faulty education, 1624; see mis- (1) + educate.

miser --- 1542, "miserable person, wretch," from L. miser (adj.) "unhappy, wretched," of unknown origin. Original sense now obsolete; main modern meaning of "money-hoarding person" first recorded c.1560, from presumed unhappiness of such people. Besides general wretchedness, the L. word connoted also "intense erotic love" (cf. slang got it bad "deeply infatuated") and hence was a favorite word of Catullus. In Gk. a miser was kyminopristes, lit. "a cumin seed splitter." In Mod.Gk., he or she might be called hekentabelones, lit. "one who has sixty needles." The Ger. word, filz, lit. "felt," preserves the image of the felt slippers which the miser often wore in caricatures. Lettish mantrausis "miser" is lit. "money-raker."

miserable --- c.1412, "full of misery, causing wretchedness" (of conditions), from O.Fr. miserable, from L. miserabilis "pitiable, lamentable," from miserari "to pity, lament," from miser "wretched." Of persons, "existing in a state of misery" it is attested from 1526.

Miserere --- 51st Psalm (one of the Penitential Psalms), 13c., from Miserere mei Deus "Have mercy upon me, O God," opening line, from L. miserere "have mercy," imperative of misereri "to have mercy," from miser. From 15c.-17c. used as an informal measure of time, "the time it takes to recite the Miserere." Also in miserere mei "kind of severe colic ('iliac passion') accompanied by excruciating cramps and vomiting of excrement" (1611).

misery --- c.1374, "condition of external unhappiness," from O.Fr. miserie (12c.), from L. miseria "wretchedness," from miser. Meaning "condition of one in great sorrow or mental distress" is from 1535. Meaning "bodily pain" is 1825, Amer.Eng.

misfeasance --- 1596, "wrongful exercise of lawful authority or improper performance of a lawful act," from M.Fr. mesfaisance, from mesfaisant, prp. of mesfaire "to misdo," from mes- "wrongly" (see mis- (2)) + faire "to do," from L. facere "to perform" (see factitious).

misfire (v.) --- 1752, of a gun, 1905, of an internal combustion engine; see mis- (1) + fire (v.). The noun is attested from 1839.

misfit (n.) --- 1823, "garment which does not fit the person for whom it was intended;" see mis- (1) + fit. Meaning "person who does not fit his environment" is attested from 1880.

misgiving --- 1601, "feeling of mistrust or sudden apprehension," from misgive "cause to feel doubt" (1513), usually said of one's heart or mind, from mis- (1) + give in its M.E. sense of "suggest."

misguide --- 1390, "to go astray;" see mis- (1) + guide (v.). Trans. sense of "to guide in the wrong direction" is first attested 1509. Misguided "erring in purpose or action" is from 1659.

mishap --- c.1330, "bad luck, unlucky accident," from mis- "bad" + hap "luck." Probably on analogy of O.Fr. meschance.

mishear --- O.E. mishieran "to disobey;" see mis- (1) + hear. Sense of "to hear incorrectly" first recorded c.1225.

mishmash --- c.1450, mysse-masche, probably an imitative reduplication of mash (1).

Mishnaic --- 1718, "of or belonging to the Mishnah," the collection of oral law which forms the basis of the Talmud, from Heb., lit. "repetition, instruction," from shanah "to repeat," in post-Biblical Heb. "to teach or learn (oral tradition)."

misidentify --- 1895; see mis- (1) + identify.

misinform --- 1390; see mis- (1) + inform. First record of misinformed is c.1447; misinformation is from 1587.

misinterpretation --- 1576; see mis- (1) + interpret.

misjudge --- 1526 (implied in misiudgynge); see mis- (1) + judge (v.).

mislay --- 1402; see mis- (1) + lay (v.).

mislead --- O.E. mislædan, common Gmc. compound (cf. M.L.G., M.Du. misleiden, O.H.G. misseleiten, Ger. missleiten, Dan. mislede); see mis- (1) + lead (v.).

mislike --- O.E. mislician "to be displeasing;" see mis- (1) + like (v.). Sense of "to be displeased with" is attested from 1513.

mismanagement --- 1668; see mis- (1) + management.

mismatch --- 1599 (v.), 1606 (n.); see mis- (1) + match (2).

mismeasure (v.) --- 1742; see mis- (1) + measure (v.).

misname (v.) --- 1537; see mis- (1) + name (v.).

misnomer --- 1455, from Anglo-Fr., from M.Fr. mesnomer "to misname," from mes- "wrongly" (see mis- (2)) + nomer "to name," from L. nominare "nominate" (see nominate).

misogyny --- 1656, from Gk. misogynia, from misogynes "woman-hater," from miso-, comb. form of misos "hatred" (from misein "to hate") + gyne "woman" (see queen). Misogynist is first recorded 1620.

misperception --- 1722; see mis- (1) + perception.

misplace --- 1551, "to assign a wrong position to;" see mis- (1) + place (v.). Of affections, confidence, etc., "to give to a wrong object," it is recorded from 1638.

misprint (v.) --- 1494; see mis- (1) + print (v.). The noun is first attested 1818.

misprision --- wrong action, a failure on the part of authority, 1425, from Anglo-Fr. mesprisioun "mistake, error, wrong action or speech," from O.Fr. mespris, pp. of mesprendre "to mistake, act wrongly," from mes- "wrongly" (see mis- (2)) + prendre "take," from L. prendere, contracted from prehendere "seize" (see prehensile). In 16c., misprision of treason was used for lesser degrees of guilt (those not subject to capital punishment), esp. for knowing of treasonable actions or plots but not informing the authorities. This led to the common supposition in legal writers that the word means "failure to denounce" a crime.

mispronunciation --- 1530; see mis- (1) + pronunciation.

misquote (v.) --- 1596; see mis- (1) + quote (v.). First recorded in Shakespeare.

misrepresent --- 1647; see mis- (1) + represent.

misrule --- 1399, "bad government of a state;" see mis- (1) + rule. Meaning "disorderly conduct or living" is from c.1400, obsolete except in Lord of Misrule, one chosen to preside over Christmas games in a great house (1491).

miss (n.) --- the term of honour to a young girl [Johnson], shortened form of mistress. Earliest use (1645) is for "prostitute, concubine;" sense of "title for a young unmarried woman, girl" first recorded 1666. In the 1811 reprint of the slang dictionary, Miss Laycock is given as an underworld euphemism for "the monosyllable."

miss (v.) --- O.E. missan "fail to hit, fail in what was aimed at," infl. by O.N. missa "to miss, to lack;" both from P.Gmc. *missjan "to go wrong" (cf. O.Fris. missa, M.Du. missen, Ger. missen "to miss, fail"), from *missa- "in a changed manner," hence "abnormally, wrongly," from PIE base *mei- "to change" (root of mis- (1); see mutable). Meaning "to fail to get what one wanted" is from c.1250. Sense of "to escape, avoid" is from 1526; that of "to perceive with regret the absence or loss of (something or someone)" is from 1470. Sense of "to not be on time for" is from 1823; to miss the boat in the fig. sense of "be too late for" is from 1929, originally nautical slang. The noun meaning "a failure to hit or attain" is recorded from 1555 (O.E. noun *miss meant "absence, loss"). To give something a miss "to abstain from, avoid" is from 1919. Phrase a miss is as good as a mile was originally, an inch, in a miss, is as good as an ell (see ell). To miss out (on) "fail to get" is from 1929. Missing link first attested 1851 in Lyell. Missing person is from 1876.

missal --- c.1330, from O.Fr. messel "book of the Mass," from M.L. missale, neut. of adj. missalis "pertaining to the Mass," from L.L. missa "Mass."

misshapen --- having a bad or ugly shape, c.1375; see mis- (1) + shape (v.).

missile --- 1611 (adj.) "capable of being thrown," chiefly in phrase missile weapon, from Fr. missile, from L. missile "weapon that can be thrown," from missus, pp. of mittere "to send." The noun meaning "thing thrown or discharged as a weapon" is from 1656. Sense of "self-propelled rocket or bomb" is first recorded 1738; the modern remote guidance projectile so called from 1945.

mission --- 1598, originally of Jesuits sending members abroad, from L. missionem (nom. missio) "act of sending," from mittere "to send," oldest form probably *smittere, of unknown origin. Diplomatic sense of "body of persons sent to a foreign land on commercial or political business" is from 1626. In Amer.Eng., sometimes "an embassy" (1805). Meaning "dispatch of an aircraft on a military operation" (1929, Amer.Eng.) later extended to spacecraft flights (1962), hence, mission control (1964). As a style of furniture, said to be imitative of furniture of original Sp. missions to N.America, it is attested from 1900.

missionary (n.) --- 1656, from mission (q.v.). Missionary position first attested 1969; allegedly so called because Christian missionaries forced it on "primitive" people to replace their more creative variations.

Mississippi --- originally as the name of the river, from Fr., from Algonquian (Fr. missionaries first penetrated the river valley in its upper reaches), lit. "big river;" cf. Ojibwa mshi- "big," ziibi "river."

missive --- 1444, from M.L. missivus "for sending, sent," esp. in littera missiva "letters sent," from L. missus, pp. of mittere "to send."

Missouri --- originally a name for a group of native peoples among Chiwere (Siouan) tribes, from an Algonquian word recorded c.1700, lit. "people of the big canoes." The expression I'm from Missouri, you'll have to show me is attested from at least c.1880.

mis-spend --- to spend amiss or wastefully, c.1375; see mis- (1) + spend.

mis-state --- 1650; see mis- (1) + state (v.).

mis-step (v.) --- 1390; see mis- (1) + step (v.). The noun in the fig. sense of "faux pas" is first recorded c.1800; literal sense is from 1837.

missy --- playful form of miss (n.), chiefly among servants, first attested 1676.

mist --- O.E. mist "dimness, mist" (earliest in compounds, such as misthleoðu "misty cliffs," wælmist "mist of death"), from P.Gmc. *mikhstaz (cf. M.L.G. mist, Icelandic mistur), from PIE *migh-/*meigh- (cf. Gk. omikhle, O.C.S. migla, Skt. mih, megha "cloud, mist").

mistake (v.) --- c.1330, from O.N. mistaka "take in error, miscarry," from mis- "wrongly" (see mis- (1)) + taka "take." The noun is attested from 1638.

mister --- as a title of courtesy before a man's Christian name, 1447, unaccented variant of master.

mistime --- late O.E. mistimian "to happen amiss" (of an event); see mis- (1) + time. Meaning "not to time properly" is first recorded 1390.

mistletoe --- O.E. mistiltan, from mistel "mistletoe" + tan "twig." First element is from P.Gmc. *mikhstilaz (cf. O.H.G. mistil). Venerated by the Druids; the custom of hanging it at Christmas and kissing under it is mentioned by Washington Irving.

mistral --- cold northerly wind on the Mediterranean coast of France, 1604, from Fr., from Prov. mistral, lit. "the dominant wind," from mistral (adj.) "dominant," from L. magistralis "dominant," from magister "master."

mistreat --- 1453; see mis- (1) + treat (v.).

mistress --- c.1320, "female teacher, governess," from O.Fr. maistresse, fem. of maistre "master" (see master). Sense of "a woman who employs others or has authority over servants" is from 1426. Sense of "kept woman of a married man" is from 1430.