Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “misgovernment” come from?

Misgovernment combines the English prefix mis- with government, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European men- meaning to think or direct the mind.

misgovernment (English): Bad government; Failure to restrict oneself;...

Definitions

  1. Bad government; Failure to restrict oneself;...

Ancestry of “misgovernment”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishgovernmentThe body with the power to make and/or enforce...
2Middle EnglishgovernementThe action of governing; a method of control; A...
3Old Frenchgovernementgovernment
4Old French-mentUsed to form adverbs, most of the time equivalent...
5Latin-mentuminstrument, medium, or result of; e.g....
6Latin-mentanominative plural of -mentum; accusative plural...
7Proto-Indo-European-mn̥Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mn̥ →