Misdivided

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. Separated or apportioned in an inaccurate or mistaken manner
2. Split or partitioned in the wrong way, resulting in an incorrect division
3. Divided into parts that do not properly or accurately reflect the intended allocation

Etymology: "Misdivided" is a plain formation: the prefix "mis-", meaning "wrongly" or "badly," attached to "divided," the past participle of "divide." Its history is therefore the history of "divide," which came into English from Old French "devider," itself from Latin "dividere" ("to separate, force apart"). The combination is rare and was never a common coinage. Its meaning follows directly from its parts: something that has been split up or apportioned incorrectly, or a group or allocation that has been wrongly separated. Because "mis-" is a productive English prefix attached to many verbs, the word needed no special invention, and its formation is transparent to any reader who knows "divide."

Synonyms: misallocated, incorrectly divided

Antonyms: correctly divided