Where does “misbehaving” come from?

Misbehaving comes from Middle English -ing and Old English -ing, ultimately from Proto-Germanic -ungō, a suffix forming nouns from verbs.

misbehaving (English): bad conduct or actions; present participle of...

Definitions

  1. bad conduct or actions; present participle of...

Ancestry of “misbehaving”, step by step

misbehaving traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English misbehave

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmisbehaveTo act or behave in an inappropriate, improper,...
2Middle Englishmisbehaven

via Middle English misbehaving

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmisbehaving
Every word from Middle English misbehavenEvery word from English misbehave