mistake

A2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /mɪˈsteɪk/ UK [mɪˈsteɪk] See IPA manual

Freq #738

Meanings

1

noun
Something done wrong because of bad judgment, carelessness, or lack of knowledge.

There were too many mistakes in your test, so you failed.
2

verb
To think wrongly that one person or thing is another.

Sorry, I mistook you for my brother; you look very similar.
3

verb
To understand something or someone wrongly.

Don't mistake my silence for agreement.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · something done wrong... error fault blunder slip

2 verb · to think wrongly that one... misidentify

3 verb · to understand something or... misunderstand

Word family

Forms mistakenmistakesmistakingmista’enmistook

Derived forms misfuckmistakabilitymistakablemistakeablemistakefulmistakelessmistakeproofmistakerunmistakable

Related forms mistaken

Appears in

Phrases (8)

See all

common mistake
an error that many people frequently make

Adjective + noun
correct a mistake
fix or put right something done incorrectly

Verb + noun
make a mistake
do something incorrectly or wrongly

Verb + noun
costly mistake
an error that results in a significant loss or disadvantage

Adjective + noun
honest mistake
an error made without bad intentions

Adjective + noun
serious mistake
a significant error with important consequences

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (4)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English mistaken, from Old Norse mistaka (“to take in error, to miscarry”); equivalent to mis- + take. Cognate with Icelandic mistaka (“to mistake”), Swedish missta (“to mistake”) (before apocope misstaga). The noun, which replaced earlier mistaking, is derived from the verb. Compare Swedish misstag (“mistake”, noun), Faroese mistak (“mitake”, noun), Icelandic mistak (“mistake”, noun).

mistaken Middle English mistaka Old Norse

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# mistake

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /mɪˈsteɪk/
**IPA (UK):** [mɪˈsteɪk]
**Frequency rank:** 738

## Meanings
1. Something done wrong because of bad judgment, carelessness, or lack of knowledge.
2. To think wrongly that one person or thing is another.
3. To understand something or someone wrongly.

## Examples
- There were too many mistakes in your test, so you failed.
- Sorry, I mistook you for my brother; you look very similar.
- Don't mistake my silence for agreement.

## Derived Forms
- misfuck
- mistakability
- mistakable
- mistakeable
- mistakeful
- mistakeless
- mistakeproof
- mistaker
- unmistakable

## Related Forms
- mistaken

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: mistaken
- Root: mistaka
- Affix: mis- - wrong

## Etymology
From Middle English mistaken, from Old Norse mistaka (“to take in error, to miscarry”); equivalent to mis- + take. Cognate with Icelandic mistaka (“to mistake”), Swedish missta (“to mistake”) (before apocope misstaga). The noun, which replaced earlier mistaking, is derived from the verb. Compare Swedish misstag (“mistake”, noun), Faroese mistak (“mitake”, noun), Icelandic mistak (“mistake”, noun).

## AI Etymology
Mistake comes from Middle English mistaken, from Old Norse mistaka (“to take in error, to miscarry”); equivalent to mis- + take. Cognate with Icelandic mistaka (“to mistake”), Swedish missta (“to mistake”) (before apocope misstaga). The noun, which replaced earlier mistaking, is derived from the verb. In present-day English its meanings include something done wrong because of bad judgment, carelessness, or lack of knowledge, to think wrongly that one person or thing is another, and to understand something or someone wrongly. The historical chain runs through mistaken (Middle English) and mistaka (Old Norse). Related and derived forms include mistaken, misfuck, mistakability, and mistakable.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

markdown