misconstruction

English

Etymology

From mis- +‎ construction.

Noun

misconstruction (countable and uncountable, plural misconstructions)

1. Mistaken or faulty construction; an instance of it.
   1. A misunderstanding or misinterpretation resulting from a different meaning than intended of a word that has multiple meanings.
      • 1941 March, “The Why and the Wherefore: Track Circuit”, in Railway Magazine, page 142:

        Our attention has been called to the possibility of misconstruction in our reply given under the above heading in the December issue concerning track circuit through busy stations normally entered at low speeds.

   2. Other misconstrual or misinterpretation not necessarily hinging on missense of any particular word.

      a misconstruction of the law

   3. (grammar, linguistics) An ungrammatical phrase; a misformed word.
   4. (uncommon) The act of misbuilding; an instance of it.

See also

• eggcorn
• Category:English misconstructions

References

• “misconstruction”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• constructionism