Etymograph

English

misaccuse

Misaccuse comes from Old French acuser ‘to accuse’, from Latin causa ‘cause, reason’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Italic *kaussā.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaussā1uncertain
  2. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcaussa1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausa1‘cause, reason’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsāre1
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400acuser1‘to accuse’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500acusen1
  7. English1500–presentaccuse1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1918misaccuse1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English misaccuse
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, The bulletin of the Commercial Law Leagu: “I hold no brief for any disloyal person or…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaussāWiktionary, English misaccuseuncertain
  2. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcaussaWiktionary, English misaccuseuncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausaWiktionary, English misaccuse‘cause, reason’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsāreWiktionary, English misaccuse
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400acuserWiktionary, English misaccuse‘to accuse’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500acusenWiktionary, English misaccuse
  7. English1500–presentaccuseWiktionary, English misaccuse
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1918misaccuseWiktionary, English misaccuse. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, The bulletin of the Commercial Law Leagu: “I hold no brief for any disloyal person or…”

Linked words

through Latin causa ‘cause, reason’

because, cause, chest, chose, syllabus, causal, accusation, inexcusable, causative, accuser, excusable, accusative, 21 more

Today it means

verb To accuse wrongly.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “misaccuse”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kaussā / misaccuse

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