mislay

English

Etymology

From Middle English mysse layen, equivalent to mis- +‎ lay.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪsˈleɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

Verb

mislay (third-person singular simple present mislays, present participle mislaying, simple past and past participle mislaid) (transitive)

1. To leave or lay something in the wrong place and then forget where one put it.
   • 1971, Nancy Anne Dyer, Tokugawa to Meiji Japan: a Resource Guide for Teachers, page 140:

     He cannot see well, mislays his glasses, and frequently mismends the nets.

2. (obsolete) To err in placing something.
   • 1601, William Barlow, A Sermon Preached at Paules Crosse, on the First Sunday in Lent; […], London: […] [R. Read] for Mathew Law, […], signature C iii., recto:

     [F]ire, if it be well and rightly vſed, burneth in the houſe to the good and pꝛofit of the familie: but if miſlayed oꝛ abuſed, burneth the houſe to the vndoing of the inhabitantes: […]

   • 1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His First VVeek, or Birth of the VVorld: […].] The First Daie of the First VVeek.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, →OCLC, page 12:

     You haue miſ-caſt in your Arithmetike, / Miſ-laid your Counters, groapingly yee ſeek / In nights blacke darknes for the ſecret things / Seal’d in the Casket of the King of Kings.

   • a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “Sermon CX. Preached to the King, at the Court. The Second Sermon on Genesis i. 26.”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume IV, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 532:

     First, Scio cui credidi, I know whom I have believed in: I have not mislaid my foundation; my foundation is Christ; […]

   • 1671, J[ohn] Crown, “The Third Act”, in Juliana or The Princess of Poland. A Tragicomedy. […], London: […] Will. Cademan […] and Will. Birch […], page 35:

     Oh heavens! her grief miſlayes her noble reaſon, what ſhall we do

   • a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC, § 4, pages 19–20:

     This being ſo that Defects and Weakneſs in Mens Underſtandings, as well as other Faculties, come from want of a right uſe of their own Minds, I am apt to think the fault is generally miſlaid upon Nature, and there is often a Complaint of want of Parts when the fault lies in want of a due improvement of them.

Synonyms

• misplace

Derived terms

• mislayal
• mislaying (noun)

Translations

to leave something in the wrong place and then forget where one put it — see misplace

References

• “mislay”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “mislay”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Imlays, siamyl