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misuse

noun
/mɪsˈjuːs//mɪsˈjuːz/

Etymology

From mis- + use (noun).

  1. derived from uti — “to use”
  2. derived from uso — “use”
  3. derived from user — “use, employ, practice”
  4. inherited from usen
  5. derived from ūsus — “use, custom, skill, habit”
  6. derived from us
  7. inherited from use
  8. formed as misuse — “mis- + use”

Definitions

  1. An incorrect, improper or unlawful use of something.

    • The Queen may be celebrating her jubilee but the Queen's English Society, which has railed against the misuse and deterioration of the English language, is to fold.

  2. To use (something) incorrectly.

  3. To abuse or mistreat (something or someone).

  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. To rape (a woman)

      To rape (a woman); later more generally, to sexually abuse (someone).

      • “If that is true she would be the first case I have ever heard of, as most female captives are misused by the entire tribe.”

    2. To abuse verbally, to insult.

      • Socrates was brought upon the stage by Aristophanes, and misused to his face: but he laughed, as if it concerned him not […].

The neighborhood

Derived

misuser

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at misuse. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01misuse02abuse03unjust04fair05blond06pale07sickness

A definitional loop anchored at misuse. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at misuse

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA