mizzy

English

Alternative forms

• mizzey, mizz

Etymology

From Middle English misy (“swamp, bog”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English *mȳsiġ, *mīesiġ, from Proto-West Germanic *miusiju, from Proto-Germanic *miusijō (“swamp, bog”, literally “mossy place”), from Proto-Germanic *meusą (“moss, moor”), related to Old Norse mýrr ("swamp, bog, moor"; whence English mire), Middle English mes, mease, mise, mese (“moss”), from Old English mēos (“moss”). Compare also dialectal English mizzick, mizzack, mezzack, mizuk, perhaps the same word with a suffix akin to -ock.

Noun

mizzy (plural mizzies)

1. (dialectal or obsolete) A bog or quagmire.
   • 1819, Paul Bobbin, Sequel Lanc. Dial., page 39:

     They draggunt meh thro' wick thurns, o'er doytch-backs un thro' mizzies, […]

   • 1894, R. Murray Gilchrist, Dame Inowslad:

     For miles in every direction lay the old forest of Gardomwood, a relic of primeval woodland, rich in glades and brakes, in streamlets and mizzies.

References

• “mizzy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.