Misdocumenting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of incorrectly recording or filing information; making errors while producing official records; documenting in a way that leads to inaccuracies or misunderstandings
2. Producing records or documents that contain mistakes or false details; failing to properly register facts; creating documentation that misrepresents the true information
3. The process of generating faulty or erroneous paperwork; inaccurately entering or logging data in official forms; maintaining records in a way that distorts the intended content

Etymology: "Misdocumenting" is the present participle of "misdocument," a verb formed from the prefix "mis-" (meaning wrongly or badly) attached to "document." The verb means recording records incorrectly, so the prefix does the same job it does in older formations like "misspell" or "mislead." "Document" itself comes from Latin "documentum," meaning a lesson, proof, or example, which in turn grew from "docere," to teach. A document was originally something that taught or showed, and only later came to mean a written paper that serves as evidence. "Misdocument" therefore describes getting that evidence wrong, which is a fairly natural step once "document" had taken on the sense of an official record.

Synonyms: misreporting, misrecording, falsifying

Antonyms: documenting, recording