misfile

M3I1S1F4I1L1E1
US/mɪsˈfaɪ.əl/US/ˈmɪs.faɪ.əl/

verb

To file incorrectly; to file in the wrong place or the wrong way.

“The doctor had trouble finding Mrs Wagner's patient record, since it had been misfiled under the letter V.”

OriginEnglish file ← Middle English mys- ← Old English mis- →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

verbmisfile (third-person singular simple present misfiles, present participle misfiling, simple past and past participle misfiled)

present singular third person misfiles · participle present misfiling · participle past misfiled · past misfiled

  1. transitiveTo file incorrectly; to file in the wrong place or the wrong way.

    The doctor had trouble finding Mrs Wagner's patient record, since it had been misfiled under the letter V.

Origin

  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. Englishfile
  10. Englishmisfile

From mis- + file.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

efilism
Cite this entry
APA

misfile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misfile

MLA

“misfile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misfile. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “misfile,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misfile.

Source: misfile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.