Mis- (?). [In words of Teutonic origin, fr. AS. mis-; akin to D. mis-, G. miss-, OHG. missa-, missi-, Icel. & Dan. mis-, Sw. miss-, Goth. missa-; orig., a p. p. from the root of G. meiden to shun, OHG. midan, AS. mian (. Cf. Miss to fail of). In words from the French, fr. OF. mes-, F. m'e-, mes-, fr. L. minus less (see Minus). In present usage these two prefixes are commonly confounded.]
A prefix used adjectively and adverbially in the sense of amiss, wrong, ill, wrongly, unsuitably; as, misdeed, mislead, mischief, miscreant.
© Webster 1913.