mishear

English

Etymology

From Middle English misheren, from Old English mishȳran, mishīeran (“to hear amiss, not listen to, disobey”), equivalent to mis- +‎ hear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪsˈhɪə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Verb

mishear (third-person singular simple present mishears, present participle mishearing, simple past and past participle misheard)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To hear wrongly.

   I misheard when she asked for mints, and gave her mince instead.

2. To misunderstand. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

to hear wrongly

• Dutch: misverstaan (nl), verkeerd verstaan , ^{(please verify)} slecht horen
• German: sich verhören (de)
• Greek: παρακούω (el) (parakoúo)
• Polish: przesłyszeć się pf
• Russian: ослышаться (ru) (oslyšatʹsja)
• Swedish: missuppfatta (sv)

to understand wrongly

• Dutch: slecht begrijpen , verkeerd begrijpen
• German: missverstehen (de), sich verhören (de)
• Swedish: missuppfatta (sv), missförstå (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} salah dengar
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 聞き間違う (ききまちがう, kiki-machigau)

See also

• lapsus auris

References

• mishear in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• mishear in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

• meharis, mesirah, rameish