Misidentifications

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of incorrectly identifying someone or something
2. The occurrence of perceiving or labeling a person or object inaccurately
3. Instances where a subject is mistakenly recognized or diagnosed as another entity

Etymology: "Misidentifications" is the plural of "misidentification," a noun for the act of incorrectly identifying someone or something. The plural simply counts individual cases of such errors, such as a witness picking the wrong suspect from a lineup. The base word, "identification," comes from Late Latin "identificare," meaning to make the same, built from Latin "idem" ("the same") and "facere" ("to make" or "do"). Its core sense is establishing that a thing is the same as what one claims it to be. The prefix "mis-" is an Old English element meaning "wrongly" or "badly," used with many words such as "misunderstand" and "mislead." Attaching it to "identification" produces a term meaning a wrong act of establishing identity.

Synonyms: errors, mistakes, misclassifications

Antonyms: identifications, correct identifications