amiss

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English amis, also spelled amisse, omis and on-mis.^[2][3] Most dictionaries take it as formed from Middle English a- (“on, in”) + mis (“a miss, failure; wrong”), literally "on the miss",^{[4][3][5][6][7][8]} and the OED, revising the entry in 2021, explains it as the phrase on mis, with the first element reduced, and notes that some forms show the first element reinterpreted as the preposition of.^[9] Others derive it from Old Norse á mis (“so as to miss, so as not to meet”), formed from á (“on”) and mis,^{[10][11][12][13][2]} which Hoad and the Shorter Oxford relate to the verb miss.^[10][11] The Middle English Dictionary also compares Old English verbs with the prefix mis-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the wrong direction, so as to miss the intended mark, and also wickedly or wrongfully: both senses are first recorded about 1275, in The Owl and the Nightingale (perhaps composed about 1250).^[9][2] Barnhart dates the word to about 1250, in the same poem, with the sense "in a wrong or mistaken manner, in fault".^[3][14]

Semantic evolution

From its first use the adverb covered both going astray and doing wrong; in later use the moral sense was often softened to "unwisely, inappropriately".^[9] By about 1390, in Langland, it also meant faultily or defectively, a sense now rare.^[9] From before 1425 it was also used of things turning out badly or against one's hopes.^[9] Chaucer used it more than fifty times, and Gower nearly thirty.^[15] The predicative adjective, "not as it should be, wrong", follows from about 1325,^[9][2] and not amiss, not out of place, from the mid-15th century.^[9][5] To take amiss first meant to misunderstand, as in Wyclif's this dreem takun a mys;^[16][9][4] from 1530 it meant to take offence at something, its usual sense now.^[9][4] A noun amiss, a fault or misdeed, was used from 1576 until the 19th century,^[9][5] partly by association with a miss, an error.^[9] Johnson (1755) explained the word as "not right, or out of order".^[17] In Suffolk dialect amiss of meant "wrong with": something was amiss of a lawn-mower.^[18]

Timeline

• c. 1275 – adverb, in the wrong direction, astray; wrongfully, sinfully.^[9][2]
• c. 1325 – predicative adjective, wrong, not as it should be.^[9][2]
• c. 1390 – faultily, defectively.^[9]
• before 1425 – of an outcome, unfavourably, contrary to one's hopes, and take amiss, to misunderstand.^[9]
• c. 1440 – of an action, inappropriate, out of place.^[9]
• 1530 – take amiss, to take offence at.^[9]
• 1576 – noun, a fault or misdeed (obsolete by the late 19th century).^[9]
• 1582 – of a person, mistaken.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In a mistaken or wrong way; wrongly: If you think she lied, you judge her amiss.^[5][19]
2. Out of the right course; astray or awry: Our plans went amiss.^[5][9]
3. In a faulty or unsatisfactory way.^[5][9]
4. take amiss: to be offended or annoyed by something.^[19][9]

Adjective

1. Not as it should be; wrong or faulty, used after a verb: Something seemed amiss with the engine.^[5][19][9]
2. Out of place or uncalled for, usually with a negative: A word of thanks would not be amiss.^[5][9]

Noun

1. (obsolete) A fault or misdeed.^[5][9]

Related words

• miss
• mistake

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
14. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
15. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
16. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
17. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
18. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
19. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins