miss English · revision 3545

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɪs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|fail to hit}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Old English missan, Beowulf)|origins=gem-pro *missijaną}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ To fail to hit is [[inh|enm|missen]], [[inh|ang|missan|t=to fail to hit, miss a mark; escape notice]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) probably reinforced by the cognate [[non|missa|t=to miss, lack]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It comes from [[gem-pro|*missijaną|t=to go wrong]],^(Etymonline) from [[m|gem-pro|*missa-|t=in a changed manner, wrongly]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the source of the prefix [[mis-]].^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) Its cognates include [[ofs|missa]], [[nl|missen]] and [[de|missen]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline traces it to [[ine-pro|*mei-|t=to change, go, move]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) and Merriam-Webster relates it to Latin [[m|la|mūtāre|t=to change]].^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To fail to hit a mark: Old English ''missan'', about 725 in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) Middle English ''missen'', “to fail to obtain”, is recorded probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'', and “to discover to be absent, to lack” in Layamon.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hoad dates “to fail to attain” to the 13th century, “to discover the absence of” to the 12th, and “to omit” to the 16th.^(Hoad 1986) Trench notes that ''miss'' once meant “to do without”, as in Shakespeare's ''We cannot miss him'' in ''The Tempest''.^(Trench 1859) The noun ''miss'', “loss, lack”, is from Old English,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and “regret caused by loss or absence” from about 1200.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) “A failure to hit” is from the 1550s.^(Etymonline) ''A miss is as good as a mile'' (1761) was originally ''an inch in a miss is as good as an ell'' (1610s).^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Of an engine, “to misfire” is a later sense.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''missan'' (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1200 – to fail to obtain; to notice the absence of.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – noun, regret for a loss.^(Etymonline)

+ * 16th century – to omit.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1550s – noun, a failure to hit.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1761 – ''a miss is as good as a mile''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fail to hit, reach, catch or meet.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To fail to notice, understand or experience.^(AHD)

+ # To fail to attend or do: ''missed the meeting''.^(AHD)

+ # To leave out; to let slip.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # To avoid or escape: ''just missed being hit''.^(AHD)

+ # To notice the absence or loss of; to feel the lack of.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # Of an engine, to [[misfire]].^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A failure to hit or succeed.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(give it a miss)'' A decision to avoid or skip something.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[missing]]

+ * [[missable]]

+ * [[amiss]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|title of a girl or woman}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1645 (Evelyn)}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The title is a shortening of [[mistress]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A kept mistress or a prostitute: 1645, in Evelyn's ''Diary'';^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Merriam-Webster's Unabridged dates the noun to 1606.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a title before the name of an unmarried woman or girl it is first recorded in Pepys' ''Diary'' in 1666–67,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and as a term of address in Dryden in 1667.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) By 1700 it also meant a young unmarried woman.^(Etymonline) ''Miss Nancy'', an effeminate man, is from 1824.^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898) ''Misses'' as a trade term for sizes of girls' clothing is by 1880,^(Etymonline) and ''Miss America'', a title for the winner of a beauty contest, from 1922.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1645 – a mistress, a prostitute (Evelyn).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1666 – a title before a name (Pepys).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1667 – a term of address (Dryden).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1700 – a young unmarried woman.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1824 – ''Miss Nancy''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1922 – ''Miss America''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Miss)'' A title used before the name of a girl or unmarried woman.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A polite form of address for a girl or young woman.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # A young unmarried woman or girl.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(Miss)'' A title for a young woman chosen to represent a place: ''Miss World''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[missis]]

+ * [[missus]]

+ * [[missy]]

+ * [[mistress]]

+ * [[mis-]]

+ * [[mutate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The English Dialect Dictionary records ''miss'' in Leicestershire for the eldest daughter of a family.^(Wright 1898) A colloquial ''miss'', short for ''miscarriage'', is from 1897.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}