Etymologically
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misinformation

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 00:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌmɪs.ɪn.fəˈmeɪ.ʃən/[1]
  • US: /ˌmɪs.ɪn.fɚˈmeɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English mis- + information, after the verb misinform.[2][3][4] Johnson (1755) derived it from misinform.[5] The verb is recorded from before 1393, in Gower's “Confessio Amantis”,[2] and is inherited from Middle English misenfourmen, formed from mis- and enfourmen (“to inform”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of misinforming someone, or the state of being misinformed: 1587, in the new edition of Holinshed's Chronicles.[2][7] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1580s.[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense "wrong or misleading information" followed in 1605,[2][7] where the OED's first edition and Etymonline had dated it only to the 1660s.[3] From about 1615 the word could also mean a single item of false information, with a plural misinformations;[2] the Century Dictionary quoted Bacon's Advice to Villiers for this use.[4] Johnson (1755) defined the word as "false intelligence; false accounts".[5] Modern dictionaries define it as false or inaccurate information,[8][9] the Oxford Dictionary of English adding that it is especially information meant to deceive.[9]

Timeline

  • 1587 – the action of misinforming; the state of being misinformed.[2][7]
  • 1605 – wrong or misleading information.[2][7]
  • c. 1615 – a single item or instance of misinformation.[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. False or inaccurate information, whether or not it is meant to deceive: The rumours spread a good deal of misinformation about the new law.[9][8][2]
  2. The act of giving someone wrong information, or the state of having been wrongly informed.[2][3]

Usage notes

Some dictionaries stress that misinformation is often deliberately intended to deceive,[9] while others define it simply as wrong or misleading information.[2][8] The more specific disinformation, deliberately false information spread especially by a government, is recorded from 1955 and probably comes from Russian; the OED compares it with misinformation.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Whitney, William Dwight, ed. (1889–1891), The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, New York: The Century Co. (1901 printing)
  5. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ a b c The World Book Dictionary (2015), Chicago: World Book
  9. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press