miswend

M3I1S1W4E1N1D2

verb

To go wrong; to stray.

Scrabble 13
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Meanings

verbmiswend (third-person singular simple present miswends, present participle miswending, simple past and past participle miswent)

present singular third person miswends · participle present miswending · participle past miswent · past miswent

  1. obsoleteTo go wrong; to stray.

    But things miscounselled must needs miswend.

    1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC
    2 more examples

    It sitteth not in no maner wyse / A thefe for theft to syt in iudgement, / A lecherous man a lechour to chastise, / Nor he that hath al his lyfe spent / In waste & riote forfeted and miswent.

    1554, “The .iiii. chapter. Of the Strife bytwene Caligula Tiberius and Messalyne”, in A Memorial of Suche Princes, as Since the Tyme of King Richard the Seconde, Haue Been Unfortunate in the Realme of England, The Seventh Boke

    I now forsake the former tyme I spent. / And sorie am, for that I was miswent.

    1581, Barnabe Rich, Riche His Farewell to Militarie Profession, published 1583

Origin

From mis- + wend.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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