Mistake
Pronunciation
- IPA: /mɪsˈteɪk/
- Rhymes: -eɪk
Origin
Middle English, from Old Norse mistaka ("to take in error, to miscarry")
Full definition of mistake
Noun
mistake
(plural mistakes)- An error; a blunder.
- 1877, Henry Heth, quoting Robert E. Lee, in "Causes of the Defeat of Gen. Lee's Army at the Battle of GettysburgOpinions of Leading Confederate Soldiers.", Southern Historical Society Papers (1877), editor Rev. J. WM. Jones http://books.google.com/books?id=iDIFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA292&dq=lee+%22mistakes+were+made%22&hl=en&ei=fchaTbu4L8L98AaVs4n-DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=lee%20%22mistakes%20were%20made%22&f=falseAfter it is all over, as stupid a fellow as I am can see that mistakes were made. I notice, however, that my mistakes are never told me until it is too late.
- (baseball) A pitch which was intended to be pitched in a hard to hit location, but instead ends up in an easy to hit place
Synonyms
Usage notes
Usually make a mistake. See
Verb
- (transitive) To understand wrongly, taking one thing for another, or someone for someone else.Sorry, I mistook you for my brother. You look very similar.
- ShakespeareMy father's purposes have been mistook.
- JohnsonA man may mistake the love of virtue for the practice of it.
- (intransitive) To commit an unintentional error; to do or think something wrong.
- Jonathan SwiftServants mistake, and sometimes occasion misunderstanding among friends.
- (obsolete, rare) To take or choose wrongly.