English Explanatory Dictionary

mistake

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To understand wrongly, taking one thing or person for another.
  2. To misunderstand (someone).
  3. To commit an unintentional error; to do or think something wrong.
  4. To take or choose wrongly.
noun
  1. An error.
  2. A pitch which was intended to be pitched in a hard-to-hit location, but instead ends up in an easy-to-hit place.

Pronunciation

/mɪˈsteɪk/ [mɪˈsteɪk] [mɪˈstɛjk] [mɪˈsteːk] [mɪˈstæɪk] en-us-mistake.ogg

Word forms

mistake mistakes mistaking mistook mistaken

Etymology

From Middle English mistaken, from Old Norse mistaka (“to take in error, to miscarry”); equivalent to mis- + take. Cognate with Icelandic mistaka (“to mistake”), Swedish missta (“to mistake”) (before apocope misstaga). The noun, which replaced earlier mistaking, is derived from the verb. Compare Swedish misstag (“mistake”, noun), Faroese mistak (“mitake”, noun), Icelandic mistak (“mistake”, noun).

Synonyms

aberration bloomer blooper blunder boner boo-boo break clanger cock-up error fault faux pas floater flub fluff fuckup gaffe goof howler inaccuracy lapse lapsus mess-up misstep mistake oopsy screwup slip slip-up slipup stumble thinko wrength solecism erroneity

Related words

mistaken

Derived words

mistakability mistakable mistakeable mistake fare mistaker mistake windmills for giants unmistakable and no mistake by mistake calculated mistake category mistake honest mistake make a mistake make no mistake misfuck mistakeful mistakeless mistakeproof Wards Mistake
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