mischievous

The story

1. Old French · derived frommeschever
2. Anglo-Norman · derived frommeschevous
3. Middle English · inherited frommyschevous
4. English todaymischievous

From Middle English myschevous, mischevous, from Anglo-Norman meschevous, from Old French meschever, from mes- (“mis-”) + chever (“come to an end”) (from chef (“head”)). By surface analysis, mischief + -ous.

Words from the same roots