Misremember

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /mɪsɹɪˈmɛmbɚ/

Definitions

1. To recall information, events, or details incorrectly or with mistakes
2. To remember something inaccurately, often confusing facts or particulars
3. To have a faulty or mistaken memory about a person, place, or event

Etymology: The verb "misremember" is a plain English compound: the prefix "mis-", meaning "wrongly" or "badly," attached to "remember." The prefix descends from Old English "mis-," which carried the same sense of error or wrongness, and it traces back through Proto-Germanic "missa-" to an ancient root shared with words for "less" or "lacking." Its use in English as a stressed prefix on verbs is what allows the pattern to produce new forms like this one. Because "remember" itself came into English from Latin through Old French, "misremember" is a combination of a native Germanic prefix with a borrowed Latin-derived verb. Many English verbs built this way, such as "mislead" and "misunderstand," follow the same pattern, which explains why the word feels immediately transparent to speakers.

Synonyms: forget, misrecall, misrepresent

Antonyms: remember, recall