# miss

> English word · Verb · IPA /mɪs/ · frequency rank #609

## Definitions
1. To fail to hit, catch, grasp, etc.
2. To avoid hitting.
3. To fail to achieve or attain.
4. To fail to experience, attend, partake, take advantage of, etc.
5. To avoid or escape.
6. To become aware of the loss or absence of; to feel the want or need of, sometimes with regret; to feel sadness at the absence of somebody or something.
7. To fail to understand.
8. To fail to notice; to have a shortcoming of perception; overlook.
9. To be too late to connect with or meet something or someone (a means of transportation, a deadline, etc.).
10. To be wanting; to lack something that should be present (see also adjectival missing).
11. To spare someone of something unwanted or undesirable.
12. To fail to help the hand of a player.
13. To fail to score (a goal).
14. To go wrong; to err.
15. To be absent, deficient, or wanting.

## Etymology
Verb from Middle English missen, from Old English missan (“to miss, escape the notice of a person”), from Proto-West Germanic *missijan, from Proto-Germanic *missijaną (“to miss, go wrong, fail”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“to change, exchange, trade”). Cognate with West Frisian misse (“to miss”), Dutch missen (“to miss”), German missen (“to miss”), Norwegian Bokmål and Danish miste (“to lose”), Swedish missa (“to miss”), Norwegian Nynorsk, Icelandic missa (“to lose”) and Latin mittere (“to send, let go”).
Noun from Middle English misse, mis, from Old English miss (“loss, absence”), from Proto-West Germanic *miss, from Proto-Germanic *miss- (“loss”). Cognate with Scots miss (“a loss, want, cause of grief or mourning”), Middle High German misse, mis (“lack, missing, absence”), Icelandic missir (“loss”). Related also to Scots mis (“wrongdoing, sin, guilt”), Dutch mis (“misdeed, wrongdoing, mistake”), Middle Low German misse (“sin, wrong”).

## Easily confused with
- **MS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-ms)
- **Mrs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-mrs)
- **mix** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-mix)
- **MPS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-mps)
- **mit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-mit)
- **MoS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-mos)
- **MSM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-msm)
- **MSG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-msg)
- **MSP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-msp)
- **MSN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-msn)
- **miz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-miz)
- **MMS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-mms)
- **MSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-msa)
- **MSI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-msi)
- **MSF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-msf)
- **MST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-mst)
- **Mss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-mss)
- **most** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-most)
- **must** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-must)
- **moss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/miss-vs-moss)

## Common misspellings (4)
`imss`, `mis`, `mmiss`, `msis`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/miss