misdeed

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English misdede,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English misdǣd in West Saxon and misdēd in Anglian and Kentish,^[5][2][6] inherited from Proto-Germanic *missadēdiz,^[1][7] a compound of *missaz and *dēdiz,^[7] the bases of mis- and deed.^[8][9] Cognates are Old Saxon misdād, Old Frisian misdēde, Middle Dutch misdaet and Dutch misdaad, Old High German missitāt and German Missetat, and Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍃𐌰𐌳𐌴𐌸𐍃 (missadēþs).^[8][5][7] Swedish missdåd and Danish misdåd are from Middle Low German misdāt.^[8] Etymonline calls it the oldest surviving English noun in mis-.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An evil deed, an offence: in King Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care,^[8] which Dictionary.com's date of before 900 matches.^[10] Bosworth–Toller quotes the line Míne misdǽda bióþ simle beforan mé, for the Latin delictum meum coram me est semper.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth–Toller glosses it as evil action, transgression, offence and injury, and quotes it of a dog's first offence in tearing a man.^[11] In Middle English it often meant sins, and also harm done to someone, ill-usage.^[2][8] From about 1250 it could also be collective, for misconduct or wickedness in general, a use that the OED now calls poetic and archaic.^[8][2] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "evil action", quoting Richard III and Milton.^[12] Modern dictionaries define it as an immoral, criminal or illegal act,^[13][3] and Collins notes that it is often plural.^[13]

Timeline

• before 900 – an evil deed, an offence.^[8][10]
• c. 1225 – plural misdeden, sins.^[2]
• c. 1250 – collectively, misconduct, wickedness.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wrong or wicked act; an offence or crime: His many misdeeds eventually caught up with him.^[13][3][8]
2. (archaic) Such acts collectively; wrongdoing, wickedness.^[8][2]
3. (obsolete) Ill-usage, maltreatment.^[8][2]

Related words

• misdo
• deed
• mis-
• do

References

1. ^ a b 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins