Meanings
plural mistranslations
- countableuncountableAn incorrect translation.
MORE mischief has been done to the cause of truth by mistranslations of, and consequent miscomments on the holy scripture, than is at first thought imagined or perceived.
1824, S H. Jackson, The Jew1 more example
The second stage in the process by which African cultural realities are often mistransformed through mistranslation by ethnographers is associated with the urgent demand for 'theories' to assist the ethnographer in organising his field data and in presenting the conclusions derived from the data.
2012, Helen Lauer, Kofi Anyidoho, Reclaiming the Human Sciences and Humanities Through African Perspectives, page 87 - countableuncountablebiologyThe incorporation of the incorrect amino acid into a peptide sequence.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*mey-?
- Proto-Indo-European*meyth₂-
- Proto-Germanic*missaz
- Proto-Germanic*missa-
- Proto-West Germanic*missa-
- Old Englishmis-
- Middle Englishmys-
- Englishmis-
- Englishtranslation
- Englishmistranslation
From mis- + translation.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 誤譯 /误译
- 誤譯 /误译 (wùyì)incorrect translation
Finnish käännösvirhe
- käännösvirheincorrect translation
French métraduction, trouduction
- métraductionincorrect translation
- trouductionincorrect translation
Hungarian félrefordítás, leiterjakab
- félrefordításincorrect translation
- leiterjakabincorrect translation
Japanese 誤訳
- 誤訳 (goyaku)incorrect translation
Korean 오역
- 오역 (oyeok)incorrect translation
Swedish felöversättning, översättningsfel
- felöversättningincorrect translation
- översättningsfelincorrect translation
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with mistranslation
Cite this entry
mistranslation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mistranslation
“mistranslation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mistranslation. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mistranslation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mistranslation.
Source: mistranslation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.