misprision

1 of 2

noun (1)

mis·​pri·​sion (ˌ)mis-ˈpri-zhən 

1

a

: neglect or wrong performance of official duty

b

: concealment of treason or felony by one who is not a participant in the treason or felony

c

: seditious conduct against the government or the courts

2

: misunderstanding, misinterpretation

misprision

2 of 2

noun (2)

: contempt, scorn

Did you know?

All but one of the following words traces back to Latin prehendere, meaning "to seize." Which word doesn't belong?

apprehend - comprehend - misprision - misprize - prison - surprise

It's easy to see the prehendere connection in apprehend and comprehend, whereas you may be surprised that surprise is from prehendere (via Anglo-French susprendre, meaning "to capture" or "to take by surprise"). Prison, too, is from prehendere by way of Anglo-French. And misprision comes to us by way of Anglo-French mesprisun ("error, wrongdoing"), from mesprendre ("to take by mistake"), itself from prehendere. The only word that's out of place is misprize, meaning "to despise" or "to undervalue." It's ultimately from Latin pretium, meaning "value," but—in a trick move that perhaps only English could pull off—misprize has also given us a related noun meaning "contempt, scorn," in the form of an etymologically distinct misprision.

Examples of misprision in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Welch pleaded guilty to wire fraud, and Youngblood pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony related to the scheme. —Nwa Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 28 Apr. 2025

Bogard was later convicted of misprision of a felony in relation to the Tidwell case. —Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 28 Apr. 2025

The man and woman were arrested and charged with misprision of a felony but later bonded out. —Saleen Martin, USA Today, 17 Apr. 2025

Other charges parents could face under the initiative include unlawful conduct, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, misprision, and obstruction. —Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025

Kendall Mims and Victoria Tippett, who both lived in a pool house with the couple, were charged with accessory after the fact, obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony, according to police. —Samira Asma-Sadeque, People.com, 9 Oct. 2024

Mims and Tippett were both charged with accessory after the fact; obstruction of justice; and misprision of a felony, per police. —Samira Asma-Sadeque, People.com, 3 Oct. 2024

Other charges parents could face under the initiative include unlawful conduct, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, misprision, and obstruction. —Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025

Kendall Mims and Victoria Tippett, who both lived in a pool house with the couple, were charged with accessory after the fact, obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony, according to police. —Samira Asma-Sadeque, People.com, 9 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Anglo-French mesprisun error, wrongdoing, from mesprendre to take by mistake, from mes- mis- + prendre to take, from Latin prehendere to seize — more at get

Noun (2)

misprize

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (2)

1592, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for misprision

• abscission
• collision
• decision
• derision
• division
• elision
• envision
• excision
• incision
• precision
• prevision
• provision

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Legal Definition

misprision

noun

mis·​pri·​sion mis-ˈpri-zhən 

1

: neglectful or wrongful performance of an official duty

2

: a clerical error in a legal proceeding that can be corrected in a summary proceeding

3

: the concealment of a treason or felony and failure to report it to the prosecuting authorities by a person who has not committed it

misprision of felony

misprision of treason

Etymology

Noun

Anglo-French, error, wrongdoing, from Old French, from mesprendre to make a mistake, from mes- wrongly + prendre to take, from Latin prehendere to seize