Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “mispair” come from?

mispair (English) comes from English pair, from Middle English paire, from Old French paire, from Latin paria, from Latin par, from Proto-Indo-European per — around; through.

mispair (English): To pair incorrectly; to mismatch in twos

Definitions

  1. To pair incorrectly; to mismatch in twos

Ancestry of “mispair”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpairTwo similar or identical things taken together;...
2Middle EnglishpaireA pair; a group of two similar, identical, or...
3Old Frenchpaire—
4Latinparianominative neuter plural of pār; accusative...
5Latinpareven; equal; like
6Proto-Indo-Europeanperaround; through
Every word from Proto-Indo-European per →