Etymograph

English

misteach

Misteach comes from Old English mistǣċan ‘to teach amiss, teach falsely’, from Proto-Germanic *taikijaną ‘to show, point out, demonstrate’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-1‘to show, instruct, tell, point out, explain’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taikijaną2‘to show, point out, demonstrate’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taikijan2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tǣċan3‘to teach’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150mistǣċan4‘to teach amiss, teach falsely’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mistechen4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1989misteach4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *taikijaną, which cites Kluge
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English tæcan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English mistæcan
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English misteach
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1989, Jay Reed, Naming and Confronting Gay Male Battering: “Men are mistaught many things: that violence and control…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *taikijaną, which cites Kluge‘to show, instruct, tell, point out, explain’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*taikijanąWiktionary, Old English tæcan‘to show, point out, demonstrate’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*taikijanWiktionary, Old English tæcanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tǣċanWiktionary, Old English mistæcan‘to teach’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150mistǣċanWiktionary, English misteach‘to teach amiss, teach falsely’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mistechenWiktionary, English misteach
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1989misteachWiktionary, English misteach. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1989, Jay Reed, Naming and Confronting Gay Male Battering: “Men are mistaught many things: that violence and control…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show, instruct, tell, point out, explain’

index, indicate, predict, toe, indication, dictionary, indicator, token, digit, addict, dictator, indicative, contradictory, contradiction, dictate, ditto, contradict, syndicate, diction, predicate, ditty, dictum, dict, syndicalism, indicia, tache, 33 more

through Old English tǣċan ‘to teach’

teaching, 3 more

Today it means

verb To teach incorrectly.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “misteach”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *taikijaną, Old English tæcan, Old English mistæcan. 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-Indo-European *deyḱ- / misteach

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