Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “mischievous” come from?

Mischievous comes from Middle English myschevous, from Anglo-Norman meschevous and Old French meschever, ultimately derived from Frankish mis- combined with Old French chever, which traces to Latin caput meaning "head."

mischievous (English): Causing mischief; injurious; Troublesome, cheeky,...

Definitions

  1. Causing mischief; injurious; Troublesome, cheeky,...

Ancestry of “mischievous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishmyschevousSorrowful, distraught; experiencing hardship or...
2Anglo-Normanmeschevous—
3Old Frenchmescheverto fail; to make a mistake; to suffer a...
4Old Frenchmesbut; my
5Latinmagismore; more greatly; better
6Dutchmagischmagical, controlled or determined by supernatural...
7Dutchmagiemagic, sorcery ; hence supernatural occurrences...
8Frenchmagiemagic; A magical, surprising, fascinating feat;...
9Middle Frenchmagie—
10Latinmagīa—
11Ancient Greekμαγεία—
12Ancient GreekΜάγοςmagician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster,...
13Old Persian𐎶𐎦𐏁priest
14Proto-Iranianmagúš—
15Proto-Indo-Iranianmagʰúš—

Words derived from “mischievous”

  • mischievousness
Every word from Proto-Indo-Iranian magʰúš →