English
misimpression
Misimpression comes from Latin impressiō ‘push, thrust, assault, onslaught’, from imprimō ‘to press, impress’, and ultimately from premō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremō1‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress, overwhelm’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimprimō1‘to press, impress’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpressiō1‘push, thrust, assault, onslaught’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400impression1
- English1500–presentimpression1
- Englishearliest quotation 1983misimpression1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English misimpression
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1983, Robert P. Wasson Jr., "Whither BL/GPA?"—A Response: “Will is an intelligent person, and if he is…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremōWiktionary, English misimpression‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress, overwhelm’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimprimōWiktionary, English misimpression‘to press, impress’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpressiōWiktionary, English misimpression‘push, thrust, assault, onslaught’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400impressionWiktionary, English misimpression
- English1500–presentimpressionWiktionary, English misimpression
- Englishearliest quotation 1983misimpressionWiktionary, English misimpression. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1983, Robert P. Wasson Jr., "Whither BL/GPA?"—A Response: “Will is an intelligent person, and if he is…”
A compound of mis- + impression
Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to change’
Proto-Indo-European *mitˢtós ‘mutual, reciprocal’
Proto-Germanic *missa- ‘wrongly, badly, mis-’
Proto-West Germanic *missa- ‘mis-, wrongly’
English mis-
Latin premō ‘to press’
Latin imprimō ‘to press, impress’
Latin impressiō
Old French impression
English impression
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pres- ‘to press’
first, expression, frist, 29 more
through Proto-Italic *pres-
pressure, express, depression, oppression, compression, suppression, depressive, compress, depress, repress, impressionable, impressionist, impressionism, 30 more
through Latin premō ‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress,…’
press, pregnant, imprint, sprain, reprimand, 43 more
through Latin imprimō ‘to press, impress’
impressive, impress, imprimatur, 26 more
through English impression
Today it means
noun An inaccurate or misleading impression
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “misimpression”. 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 / Latin premō / misimpression