misuse

English

Etymology 1

From mis- +‎ use (noun).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪsˈjuːs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːs

Noun

misuse (countable and uncountable, plural misuses)

1. An incorrect, improper or unlawful use of something.
   • 2012 June 4, Lewis Smith, “Queen’s English Society says enuf is enough, innit?: Society formed 40 years ago to protect language against poor spelling and grammar closes because too few people care”, in The Guardian‎^[1], London, archived from the original on 10 March 2016:

     The Queen may be celebrating her jubilee but the Queen's English Society, which has railed against the misuse and deterioration of the English language, is to fold.

Translations

incorrect, improper or unlawful use

• Bulgarian: злоупотреба (bg) f (zloupotreba)
• Czech: zneužití (cs) n
• Danish: misbrug n or c
• Esperanto: misuzo
• Finnish: väärinkäyttö (fi)
• French: mésusage (fr) m
• German: Missbrauch (de) m, missbräuchliche Nutzung/Verwendung f, Fehlbedienung f, Fehlgebrauch n, Zweckentfremdung f
• Greek: κατάχρηση (el) f (katáchrisi)
• Indonesian: penyalahgunaan (id)
• Italian: abuso (it)
• Kabuverdianu: abuza, abuzá
• Malay: salah guna (ms)
• Malayalam: ദുരുപയോഗം (ml) (durupayōgaṁ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: misbruk m or n

  Nynorsk: misbruk m or n

• Spanish: mal uso m
• Volapük: migeb (vo)
• Walloon: mezuzance (wa) f

Etymology 2

From mis- +‎ use (verb).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪsˈjuːz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːz

Verb

misuse (third-person singular simple present misuses, present participle misusing, simple past and past participle misused or (obsolete) misust)

1. (transitive) To use (something) incorrectly. [from 14th c.]
2. (transitive) To abuse or mistreat (something or someone). [from 14th c.]
3. (transitive) To rape (a woman); later more generally, to sexually abuse (someone). [from 14th c.]
   • 2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 326:

     “If that is true she would be the first case I have ever heard of, as most female captives are misused by the entire tribe.”

4. (obsolete, transitive) To abuse verbally, to insult. [16th–17th c.]
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 7:

     Socrates was brought upon the stage by Aristophanes, and misused to his face: but he laughed, as if it concerned him not […].

Translations

to use something incorrectly

• Bulgarian: злоупотребявам (bg) (zloupotrebjavam)
• Esperanto: misuzi
• Finnish: käyttää väärin
• German: missbrauchen (de), zweckentfremden (de)
• Indonesian: menyalahgunakan (id)
• Italian: usare impropriamente
• Latin: abūtor (la)
• Russian: злоупотребля́ть (ru) (zloupotrebljátʹ)
• Volapük: migebön (vo)

to abuse or mistreat something or someone

• Bulgarian: отнасям се лошо с (otnasjam se lošo s)
• Czech: zneužít (cs)
• Finnish: väärinkäyttää (a thing), kohdella väärin (a person)
• German: missbrauchen (de)
• Italian: abusare (it)
• Maori: raukoti
• Spanish: abusar (es)
• Volapük: migebön (vo)

to abuse sexually

• Bulgarian: блудствам (bludstvam)
• Finnish: raiskata (fi), väkisinmaata (to rape); käyttää hyväksi (to abuse sexually, e.g. a minor)
• Italian: abusare (it), stuprare (it), violentare (it)

Anagrams

• Imuses, Iseums, Muises, mussie