▪ I. misnomer, n.
(mɪsˈnəʊmə(r))
Also 5 -noumer, 7–8 -nosmer.
[a. AF., OF. mesnom(m)er inf. used subst., f. mes- mis-2 + nommer to name:—L. nōmināre (see nominate v.).]
1. Law. A mistake in naming a person or place.
| 1455 Rolls of Parlt. V. 334/1 To allege or plede..misnoumer. 1532 Dial. on Laws Eng. ii. xlviii. 122 He..pledeth misnomer [ed. 1638 misnosmer]. a 1625 Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 385 The defendant may plead misnosmer of himself, or no such towne. 1769 Blackstone Comm. IV. 328 A plea in abatement is principally for a misnosmer, a wrong name, or a false addition to the prisoner. 1846 Act 9 & 10 Vict. c. 95 §59 No misnomer or inaccurate description of any person or place in any such plaint or summons shall vitiate the same. 1882 Act 45 & 46 Vict. c. 50 §241 No misnomer or inaccurate description of any person, body corporate, or place..shall hinder the full operation of this Act. |
2. gen. The use of a wrong name; misapplication of a term.
| 1635 Jackson Creed viii. xxvii. 304 The second [difficulty] pitcheth upon a misnomer of the Prophet, as whether that Prophecie..was uttered or written by Zachariah, or..Jeremiah. 1681 Hickeringill Sin Man-catching Wks. 1716 I. 174 The Spirit of God..miscalls none, and never is guilty of any misnosmer. 1796 F. Burney Lett. 16 Dec., You would not accuse yourself of a misnomer in calling him cherub. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) II. vi. 206 A kind of misnomer which classifies all Scott's books as novels. 1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xxi. 159 The City which, by a misnomer, is called the Metropolis. |
3. A wrong name or designation.
| 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi κοινη Def. vi. 309 The Notion of Presbytery (which sure is a misnomer). 1728 Morgan Algiers II. v. 307 To pass by abundance of Misnomers he will needs call the Person I name Drub-Devil, Devil-Driver. 1818 Byron Juan i. cc, My name of Epic's no misnomer. 1891 Driver Introd. Lit. O.T. (1892) 471 note, The term ‘Chaldee’ for the Aramaic of either the Bible or the Targums is a misnomer. |
▪ II. misˈnomer, v.
[f. prec.]
trans. To misname. Chiefly in pa. pple. and ppl. a. = Called by a name which is a misnomer, misnamed.
| 1740 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. lxi. 404 The misnomered free-gifts which we read of in some kingdoms on extraordinary occasions. 1795 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Wks. (1812) III. 435 Whose life (misnomer'd life) is death, rank death. 1848 Fraser's Mag. XXXVIII. 134 Louis, misnomered le Grand. 1854 Lady Lytton Behind the Scenes I. ii. ii. 186 He was beginning sorely to repent the precipitate step which he misnomered hospitality. 1884 A. Edersheim Life of Jesus (ed. 2) II. 562 The wretched witticisms of what is misnomered common sense. |