Miscalibrating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Setting the measurements or instruments incorrectly, causing them to provide inaccurate readings
2. Adjusting a device or system in a way that results in incorrect or faulty calibration
3. The act of improperly tuning or configuring equipment so that it no longer operates with intended precision

Etymology: "Miscalibrating" is simply the present participle of "miscalibrate", so the story is the story of its parts. The prefix "mis-" comes from Old English, where it meant "wrongly" or "amiss" and attached freely to verbs and nouns, giving English a long line of formations such as "misspell" and "mistake". The base is "calibrate", which the source traces through Latin "-ātus" and the suffix "-ate", a pattern that turns nouns and adjectives into verbs of making or doing. "Calibre" is the older noun underneath all of this. It descends from the Arabic-derived "qālib" (a mould or last for shaping), reaching English through French, and originally meant the internal diameter of a gun barrel or the size of a shot that fits it. From that concrete sense of measuring bore size came the broader idea of measuring something against a standard, which "calibrate" expresses.

Synonyms: misadjusting, misaligning, missetting, misconfiguring, miscalculating

Antonyms: calibrating, adjusting, aligning, setting, configuring