mistake

Meanings

1. 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. 2
   verb

   To think wrongly that one person or thing is another.

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

3. 3
   verb

   To understand something or someone wrongly.

   Don't mistake my silence for agreement.

Common collocations

• common mistake Adjective + noun
• correct a mistake Verb + noun
• make a mistake Verb + noun
• costly mistake Adjective + noun
• honest mistake Adjective + noun
• serious mistake Adjective + noun
• admit a mistake Verb + noun
• repeat a mistake Verb + noun

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).

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