Misconform

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To behave or be shaped in a way that fails to match an expected standard or pattern
2. Describing the act of adapting or fitting oneself to a rule or model in the wrong way
3. Failing to follow a required form, rule, or standard when shaping or adjusting something

Etymology: "Misconform" is a plain compound: the prefix "mis-", meaning wrongly or badly, attached to "conform," which itself comes from Latin "conformare," meaning to shape or fashion together, from "con-" (together) and "formare" (to form, from "forma," shape). So the word literally means to shape or form wrongly, and its modern sense of failing to match a standard follows directly from that. The prefix "mis-" is an old English element, and it attaches freely to verbs of shaping, behaviour and judgement, such as "misshape" and "misbehave," which is why "misconform" follows the same pattern. "Conform" entered English through Old French from the same Latin root, and its sense of matching a pattern or rule has been part of the word from the start.