'misappropriate' originates from the prefix 'mis-' meaning 'wrongly' and the word 'appropriate' from Latin 'appropriare', where 'ad-' meant 'to' and 'proprius' meant 'own'.

'appropriare' transformed into the Old French word 'approprier', and eventually became the modern English word 'appropriate'. The prefix 'mis-' was added to form 'misappropriate'.

Initially, it meant 'to make one's own', but with the prefix 'mis-', it evolved into its current meaning of 'wrongly taking for one's own use'.