misprision
mis·pris·ion/ˌmɪsˈpɹɪʒ(ə)n/noun
misprision is a noun meaning “Criminal neglect or wrongful execution of duty, especially by a public official; (countable) a specific instance of this” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled M-I-S-P-R-I-S-I-O-N and has 3 syllables (mis·pris·ion), and it appears about once in every 28 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of misprision is misprisions.
What does misprision mean?
noun
- 1
Criminal neglect or wrongful execution of duty, especially by a public official; (countable) a specific instance of this.
- 2
In full misprision of felony or misprision of treason: originally, a less serious form of felony or treason; later, the crime of (intentionally) failing to give information about a felony or treason that one knows about; (countable) an instance of this.
misprision of heresy
- 3
Misinterpretation or misunderstanding; (countable) an instance of this; a mistake.
- 4
Incorrect or unfair suspicion; (countable) an instance of this.
- 5
Despising or holding in contempt; disdain, scorn.
- 6
Not seeing the value in something; undervaluing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce misprision?
- UK /ˌmɪsˈpɹɪʒn̩/
- US /ˌmɪsˈpɹɪʒ(ə)n/
Misprision has 3 syllables, split mis·pris·ion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-misprision.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of misprision
- misprisions plural
- missprision
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is misprision?
Misprision appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Misprision in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense misinterpretation or misunderstanding; an instance of this – see also misinterpr:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | méprise |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does misprision come from?
From Late Middle English misprision, mesprision (“criminal offence or illegal action, especially one committed by a public official”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman misprision, mesprision, mesprison (“criminal offence or illegal action; error, mistake, specifically an error by a court”) [and other forms] (whence Late Latin mesprisio, misprisio), and Old French mesprison, from mespris (“contempt, disdain”) (modern French mépris) + -ion (suffix indicating a condition or state).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).