Etymology

misidentify

M3I1S1I1D2E1N1T1I1F4Y4

Today it means: To mistake the identity of (something or someone). Full definition →

English identify ← Middle English mys- ← Old English mis-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mey-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*meyth₂-
  3. Proto-Germanic*missaz
  4. Proto-Germanic*missa-
  5. Proto-West Germanic*missa-
  6. Old Englishmis-
  7. Middle Englishmys-
  8. Englishmis-
  9. Englishidentify
  10. English todaymisidentify

From mis- + identify.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.