Miscarried

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Failed to successfully complete or carry out a plan or action ; undergone an unintended loss of a pregnancy during early stages
2. Did not succeed in properly executing a task or legal process ; suffered a spontaneous abortion of a fetus before viability
3. Was unsuccessful in achieving an intended result or goal ; experienced the premature termination of a pregnancy

Etymology: "Miscarried" is the past tense of "miscarry," and it is a form of a verb whose meaning has drifted far from its physical origins. "Miscarry" was formed in Middle English from "mis-," meaning wrong or amiss, and "carry," so the older sense was to be carried or transported in the wrong direction. A letter or a shipment could miscarry in that literal way, going astray on its journey rather than arriving where it was sent. From that sense of going wrong in transit, the verb broadened. Something that goes off course in its passage can fail to reach its goal, and so "miscarry" came to mean to fail to achieve a purpose or to come to nothing. The meaning of a plan or an enterprise falling short is a short step from a parcel that never arrived, which is why the verb sits so comfortably in both senses today.

Synonyms: failed, misfired

Antonyms: succeeded, thrived