misprision
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: law
Etymology: From Late Middle English misprision, mesprision (“criminal offence or illegal action, especially one committed by a public official”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman misprision, mesprision, mesprison (“criminal offence or illegal action; error, mistake, specifically an error by a court”) [and other forms] (whence Late Latin mesprisio, misprisio), and Old French mesprison, from mespris (“contempt, disdain”) (modern French mépris) + -ion (suffix indicating a condition or state). Mespris is the past participle of mesprendre (“to misunderstand”), from mes- (prefix meaning ‘badly; wrongly’) + prendre (“to take”) (from Latin prēndere, the present active infinitive of prēndō, a variant of prehendō (“to seize, take”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to find; to seize, take; to hold”)).
Inflected forms:
form: misprisions
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: missprision
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Criminal neglect or wrongful execution of duty, especially by a public official; (countable) a specific instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: historical
uncountable
examples: [I]f any persone were perceiued to be absent, or were sene to laughe at the folye of the emperour [Nero], he was forthe with accused, as it were, of missprision: whereby the emperour founde occasion to committe him to prison or to put hym to tortures.
Bribery is a great miſpriſion, when any man in Judiciall place takes any Fee or Penſion, Robe, or Livery, Gift, Reward, or Brocage of any perſon, that hath to do before him any way, for doing his office, or by colour of his office, but of the King only, unleſſe it be of meat and drink, and that of ſmall value, upon divers, and grievous puniſhments.
gloss: In full misprision of felony or misprision of treason: originally, a less serious form of felony or treason; later, the crime of (intentionally) failing to give information about a felony or treason that one knows about; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: historical
uncountable
examples: misprision of heresy
Misprisions (a term derived from the old French, meſpris, a neglect or contempt) are, in the acceptation of our law, generally underſtood to be all ſuch high offences as are under the degree of capital, but nearly bordering thereon: and it is ſaid, that a miſpriſion is contained in every treaſon and felony whatſoever; and that, if the king ſo pleaſe, the offender may be proceeded againſt for the miſpriſion only. […] Miſpriſions are generally divided into two ſorts; negative, which conſiſt in the concealment of ſomething which ought to be revealed; and poſitive, which conſiſt in the commiſſion of ſomething which ought not to be done.
The argument was a worthless one in law; for Eustace had been a prisoner before he was a guest, and Amyas was guilty of something very like misprision of treason in not handing him over to the nearest justice.
Mr Borthrop Trumbull really knew nothing about old Featherstone's will; but he could hardly have been bought to declare any ignorance unless he had been arrested for misprision of treason.
gloss: Misinterpretation or misunderstanding; (countable) an instance of this; a mistake.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
uncountable
examples: A Feuer in your blood vvhy then inciſion
 VVould let her out in Savvcers, ſvveete miſpriſon.^([sic])
What haſt thou done? Thou haſt miſtaken quite,
 And laid the loue iuice on ſome true loues ſight.
 Of thy miſpriſion, muſt perforce enſue
 Some true loue turnd, and not a falſe turnd true.
[T]hey [women] have what men call self-belief and blame you for your misprisions in their dreams, they are conspiracy theorists, benevolent dictators […]
gloss: Incorrect or unfair suspicion; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
uncountable
Translations: