misidentify

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˌmɪsaɪˈdɛntəˌfaɪ/ UK /ˌmɪsaɪˈdɛntɪfaɪ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to identify wrongly or incorrectly

The witness misidentified the suspect from a blurry photograph.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to identify wrongly or... misname confuse mistakemisrecognize

Opposites

identify recognize

Word family

Derived forms misidentification

Related forms identify identity identical

Etymology

From mis- ('wrongly') + identify, from Medieval Latin identificare, from Latin identitas ('sameness') + facere ('to make').

mis- Old English idem Latin facere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# misidentify

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˌmɪsaɪˈdɛntəˌfaɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌmɪsaɪˈdɛntɪfaɪ/

## Meanings
1. to identify wrongly or incorrectly

## Examples
- The witness misidentified the suspect from a blurry photograph.

## Synonyms
- misname
- confuse
- mistake
- misrecognize

## Antonyms
- identify
- recognize

## Derived Forms
- misidentification

## Related Forms
- identify
- identity
- identical

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: mis-
- Root: idem
- Root: facere

## Etymology
From mis- ('wrongly') + identify, from Medieval Latin identificare, from Latin identitas ('sameness') + facere ('to make').

## AI Etymology
Misidentify comes from mis- ('wrongly') + identify, from Medieval Latin identificare, from Latin identitas ('sameness') + facere ('to make'). The etymological trail includes Old English mis-, Latin idem, Latin facere. The same word family includes misidentification, identify, identity, identical. Its current verb use means "to identify wrongly or incorrectly".

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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