Word of the Day

: September 7, 2008

misprision

noun mis-PRIZH-un

What It Means

1 a : neglect or wrong performance of official duty

b : concealment of treason or felony by one who is not a participant in the treason or felony

2 : misunderstanding, misinterpretation

misprision in Context

In her memoir Sleeping with Cats, poet Marge Piercy reflects that her life "has been full of blunders, misprisions, accidents, losses."

Did You Know?

All but one of the following words traces back to Latin "prehendere," meaning "to seize." Which word doesn't belong?

apprehend       comprehend       misprision       misprize       prison       surprise

It's easy to see the "prehendere" connection in "apprehend" and "comprehend," whereas you may be surprised that "surprise" is from "prehendere" (via Anglo-French "susprendre," meaning "to capture" or "to take by surprise"). "Misprision" comes to us by way of Anglo-French "mesprisun" ("error, wrongdoing"), from "mesprendre" ("to take by mistake"), itself from "prehendere." "Prison," too, is from Anglo-French, where it had the same meaning as our English word. It was adapted from Latin "prehension-, prehensio" ("act of seizing") -- again, from "prehendere." The only word that's out of place is "misprize," meaning "to undervalue." It's ultimately from Latin "pretium," meaning "value."