misuse

English

Etymology 1

mis- +‎ use (noun)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪsˈjuːs/

Noun

misuse (countable and uncountable, plural misuses)

1. An incorrect, improper or unlawful use of something.
   • 2012 June 4, Lewis Smith, “Queen’s English Society says enuf is enough, innit?: Society formed 40 years ago to protect language against poor spelling and grammar closes because too few people care”, in The Guardian‎^[1], London, archived from the original on 10 March 2016:

     The Queen may be celebrating her jubilee but the Queen's English Society, which has railed against the misuse and deterioration of the English language, is to fold.

Translations

incorrect, improper or unlawful use

• Czech: zneužití (cs) n
• Danish: misbrug n or c
• Finnish: väärinkäyttö
• French: mésusage (fr) m
• Greek: κατάχρηση (el) f (katáchrisi)
• Indonesian: penyalahgunaan
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: misbruk m or n

  Nynorsk: misbruk m or n

• Volapük: migeb (vo)
• Walloon: mezuzance (wa) f

Etymology 2

mis- +‎ use (verb)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪsˈjuːz/

Verb

1. (transitive) To use (something) incorrectly. [from 14th c.]
2. (transitive) To abuse or mistreat (something or someone). [from 14th c.]
3. (transitive) To rape (a woman); later more generally, to sexually abuse (someone). [from 14th c.]
   • 2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster 2014, p. 326:

     “If that is true she would be the first case I have ever heard of, as most female captives are misused by the entire tribe.”

4. (obsolete, transitive) To abuse verbally, to insult. [16th-17th c.]
   • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 7:

     Socrates was brought upon the stage by Aristophanes, and misused to his face: but he laughed, as if it concerned him not […].

Translations

to use something incorrectly

• Esperanto: misuzi
• Finnish: käyttää väärin
• German: missbrauchen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: menyalahgunakan (id)
• Russian: злоупотребля́ть (ru) (zloupotrebljátʹ)
• Volapük: migebön (vo)

to abuse or mistreat something or someone

• Czech: zneužít (cs)
• Finnish: väärinkäyttää (sthg), kohdella väärin (sbd)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Volapük: migebön (vo)

Anagrams

• Iseums, Muises, mussie