miskenv.
/mɪsˈkɛn/, U.S. /ˌmɪsˈkɛn/, Scottish English /mɪsˈkɛn/, Irish English /mɪsˈkɛn/ Scottish, English regional (northern), and Irish English (northern).
1. transitive. Not to know; to be ignorant of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > not know [verb (transitive)]
unknowc1384
ignorec1475
miskenc1480
misknowa1522
c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 210 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 156 Lord, remyt þis gilt þam to, for þai myskene quhat þai do.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) i. viii. 126 Quha knawis nocht the lynaige of Enee? Or quha miskennis Troye, that ryall cietie?
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) ii. Prol. 12 The qwhilkis..Neyr forȝet war reklesly, Or than myskende all wttrely Witht thayme that [etc.].
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. i. viii. f. 20v Miskenning the rychteousnes of God.
1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannantyne MS (1928) III. 327 The veritie and trewt thay do misken Thruch thair obdurat obstinatioun.
1722 W. Hamilton Life of Sir William Wallace ii. ii Sir Rannald's Servant for some Fish he sent That Errand: O! that Wallace had miskent.
1829 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words (new ed.) Misken, to be ignorant of.
2.
a. transitive. To have mistaken ideas about; to misunderstand. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > misinterpret [verb (transitive)]
misunderstanda1225
mistake1402
misconstruea1425
miskenc1480
misgloze1532
misinterpret1547
missense1560
wrest1563
misdeem1570
misconceive1586
misconstruct1596
misinfer1597
misconceit1598
misknowa1600
to look beyond1600
lose1600
mismean1605
misprize1609
misread1612
misween1614
misimagine1626
misapprehend1628
construea1640
mislead1654
equivocate1665
misrender1674
misaccept1697
miscomprehend1813
read1879
misperceive1911
c1480 (a1400) St. Andrew 355 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 73 Þu miskennis, and saweris nocht þe thinge he god will haf in thocht.
c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 174 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 155 For nerhand all þe puple now myskennand trowis in Ihesu.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 459 Throuch thi falsheid thin awn wyt has myskend.
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 250 The warld, thame self, and God for to misken.
a1614 J. Melville Autobiogr. & Diary (1842) 153 In all the quhilk way we saw nocht thrie persones, sa that I miskend Edinbruche, and almost forgot that ever I haid sein sic a town.
?1635 in D. Dickson Sel. Pract. Writings (1845) (modernized text) 25 The impenitent..miskens both God and himself.
a1650 D. Calderwood Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1843) III. 161 The servants of God..are called proud that miskenne their owne place and know not with whom they deale.
c1660 S. Rutherford Christ & Doves 22 The devil hath made these enemies of the grace of God to misken all our communion with Christ.
1737 J. Willison Afflicted Man's Compan. (1744) vii. vii. 203 How ready am I to misken and mistake him, when he changeth his Dispensations toward me!
1854 M. Oliphant Quiet Heart xvii. 161 This is a weary world;—wherever I gang, at hame, or away frae hame, I'm aye miskent.
1899 E. W. Prevost Dickinson's Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (new ed.) Misken, to form a mistaken idea with regard to a person.
b. transitive (reflexive). To have mistaken ideas about oneself or one's position.
ΚΠ
c1480 (a1400) St. Eugenia 760 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 146 & als men seis þere master-men for hey estate þaim-self mysken.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 5 He miskend him self, and forȝett, quha had gevin him that grete beautee.
1573 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlii. 424 That na wayis thay thair selfis misken.
c1610 Jok Uplandis Newis f. 2v They begane in pryd, invy and follie..to misken themselffes.
a1668 J. Renwick Choice Coll. Serm. (1776) 332 O! this life would make you all misken yourselves.
1791 J. Learmont Poems Pastoral 266 Ye sair misken yoursel' Or thans ye wadnae tell me sic a tale.
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (at cited word) To misken one's self, to assume airs which do not belong to one, to forget one's proper station.
1898 J. Milne Poems 21 Some fowk, Ah wat, misken themselves.
3. transitive. To refuse to recognize or notice; to pretend ignorance of; to overlook, disown, shun. Also with clause as object.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > ignoring, disregard > ignore, disregard [verb (transitive)]
fordita800
forheedc1275
forget1297
to let out ofa1300
spele1338
to go beside ——a1382
waivec1400
remiss?a1425
to go by ——?c1450
misknowledge?a1475
misknow1483
misken1494
to go besides ——1530
to let pass1530
unregard1545
unmind1562
overlook1570
mislippen1581
suspend1581
omit1589
blanch1605
to blow off1631
disregard1641
to pass with ——1641
to give (a person or thing) the go-by1654
prescind1654
nihilify1656
proscribe1680
unnotice1776
ignore1795
to close one's mind1797
cushion1818
to leave out in the cold1839
overslaugh1846
unheed1847
to write off1861
to look through ——1894
scrub1943
1494 Loutfut MS f. 25v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) And for na barrat wald mysken his fader na moder quhilkis norist him.
?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 51 Quhen he..payntit me as pako, proudest of fedderis, I him miskennyt, be Crist, and cukkald him maid.
1554 D. Lindsay Dialog Experience & Courteour 5901 in Wks. (1931) I. 373 Thare Predecessouris, Peter and Paull, That day wyll thame mysken, at all.
1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. f. 231 v Nother misken we the iustice of God or denyes it.
1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. lxxxix. 231 My Lord miskent all and did bear with my foolish jealousies.
1686 G. Stuart Joco-serious Disc. 14 I ken this County weel eneugh, Miskenn I tell'd ye.
1686 in H. Paton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1932) 3rd Ser. XIII. 91 The donators right being intimat long before the useing of the order, he could not be miskenned but ought to have been called therto.
1724 in Coll. Dying Testimonies (1806) 226 Misken these new ones, hold you by the old.
1737 A. Ramsay Coll. Scots Prov. 53 Poor Fowk's Friends soon misken them.
1783 Scots Mag. Oct. 558 And first, misken na bonny Jean, Wha's ay, tho' haimly, dink and clean.
1819 W. Scott Legend of Montrose v, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. IV. 87 Were I you, Ranald, I would be for miskenning Sir Duncan.
4. transitive. To fail to recognize, mistake the identity of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > incorrect information > report or state wrongly [verb (transitive)] > mistake identity of
misknowc1330
miskenc1550
mistake1569
nickname1598
misidentify1895
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vii. 55 Thai vald haue clair myskend it, be rasone that it vas sa mekil altrit.
1578 J. Rolland Seuin Seages 324 Seiknes, eild and laubour, Causit thame misken his fassoun and fauour.
1646 S. Rutherford Lett. (1664) ii. xlviii. 536 Ye shall misken him, & he shall appear a new Christ.
1652 R. Loveday tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Hymen's Præludia: 1st Pt. i. 45 He misken'd her not in the lustre of those glorious ornaments in which she then shin'd.
1722 A. Ramsay Tale Three Bonnets ii. 13 Gin that I hadna 'maist miskend ye.
1766 A. Nicol Poems Several Subj. 104 In verse acrostic ye intendit To write your name, and to me send it: Maybe I might had quite miskend it.
1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well II. iii. 77 No man fell so regularly into the painful dilemma of mistaking, or, in Scottish phrase, miskenning the person he spoke to.
1854 M. Oliphant Magdalen Hepburn xix I'm no miskent at hame. There's mony an ill word said in St Andrews, but the honest wives had ne'er a scorn for me.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
v.c1480