missell

M3I1S1S1E1L1L1

verb

To sell something wrongly or fraudulently.

“The company is accused of misselling insurance policies.”

OriginMiddle English mesel ← Norman mesel ← Old French mesel →
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Meanings

missell1

verbmissell (third-person singular simple present missells, present participle misselling, simple past and past participle missold)

present singular third person missells · participle present misselling · participle past missold · past missold

  1. transitiveTo sell something wrongly or fraudulently.

    The company is accused of misselling insurance policies.

    1 more example

    HS2 has never had that. It was missold, misnamed and misconceived. It was promoted as a piece of engineering, rather than as a vital part of the railway.

    2024 February 7, Christian Wolmar, “LNER's crazy idea will price more people off the railway”, in RAIL, number 1002, page 45

missell2

adjective
  1. obsoleteObsolete form of mesel, in its various senses.
nounmissell (plural missells)

plural missells

  1. obsoleteObsolete form of mesel, in its various senses.

Origin

missell · verb

From mis- + sell.

Full word history & related roots →

missell · adjective, noun

  1. Late Latinmisellus“leper”
  2. Old Frenchmesel“leprous, leper”
  3. Normanmesel“leprous, leper”
  4. Middle Englishmesel“leprous, leper”
  5. Englishmissell

From Middle English mesel (“leprous, leper”), from Norman mesel (“leprous, leper”), from Old French mesel (“leprous, leper”), from Late Latin misellus (“leper”), from miser (“wretched, wretch”) + -ellus (“-elle”). Doublet of measles.

More words from Middle English, Norman, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Melliss
Cite this entry
APA

missell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/missell

MLA

“missell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/missell. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “missell,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/missell.

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