misdate
|mis-date|
/mɪsˈdeɪt/
assign wrong date
Etymology
'misdate' originates from Modern English, specifically from the prefix 'mis-' + the noun/verb 'date', where 'mis-' meant 'wrongly' (used to indicate error or negation) and 'date' meant 'to assign a calendar day or time'.
'date' originated from Old French 'date', from Latin 'datum' (literally 'something given'), which came to be used for a day given in a calendar. The prefix 'mis-' comes from Old English 'mis-' (from Proto-Germanic *mis-), meaning 'wrong' or 'badly'. The compounds combining 'mis-' with verbs (e.g. mislead, misjudge) are longstanding in English; 'misdate' is a straightforward modern formation from these elements.
The components originally meant 'wrongly' + 'to assign a date'; when combined, the compound came to mean specifically 'to assign an incorrect or mistaken date', a meaning that reflects the literal combination without major semantic drift.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an instance of an incorrect dating; a wrong or mistaken date assigned to something.
The publication contained a misdate that confused the chronology of events.
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Verb 1
to assign or record an incorrect date to something (e.g., a document, artifact, event).
If the laboratory uses contaminated samples, they may misdate the specimen.
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Last updated: 2025/08/16 05:19