miss

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To feel sad because someone or something is no longer with you.

   I miss my family when I'm away from home.

2. 2
   verb

   To fail to hit, catch, or reach something.

   The arrow missed the target completely.

3. 3
   verb

   To arrive too late for something, such as a bus or train.

   I missed the last train and had to take a taxi home.

4. 4
   verb

   To fail to attend an event or activity.

   She was sick and had to miss the concert.

5. 5
   verb

   To fail to notice or understand something.

   How could I miss such an obvious typo?

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Miss meaning “fail to hit” goes back to Old English. The title Miss has a separate history: it appeared in the early 17th century as a shortening of mistress and came to be used for a young girl or unmarried woman.

Verb from Middle English missen, from Old English missan (“to miss, escape the notice of a person”), from Proto-West Germanic *missijan, from Proto-Germanic *missijaną (“to miss, go wrong, fail”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“to change, exchange, trade”). Cognate with West Frisian misse (“to miss”), Dutch missen (“to miss”), German missen (“to miss”), Norwegian Bokmål and Danish miste (“to lose”), Swedish missa (“to miss”), Norwegian Nynorsk, Icelandic missa (“to lose”) and Latin mittere (“to send, let go”). Noun from Middle English misse, mis, from Old English miss (“loss, absence”), f…

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary