miscarry
UK[ˌmɪsˈkær.i]US[ˌmɪsˈker.i]
v
(of a pregnant woman) to give birth to a baby before it is able to survive, especially between the 12th and 28th weeks of pregnancy.
v
(of a plan, letter, etc.) to fail to achieve its intended purpose or to reach its intended destination.
Morpheme Breakdown
mis
carry
mis
badly/wrongly
carry
bear/transport
Etymology
the word 'miscarry' is a compound formed from the prefix 'mis-' and the verb 'carry'. its earliest meanings in middle english centered on the literal sense of 'to go astray' or 'to be badly carried'. this evolved into two primary abstract meanings. the legal and general sense, referring to plans or messages failing to reach their goal, developed first. later, the term was applied specifically to pregnancy, where the fetus is 'carried wrongly' or fails to be carried to term, illustrating a poignant semantic shift from physical misdirection to biological misfortune. the logic traces a clear path from the concrete act of erroneous transport to the figurative and medical failures it describes today.
Analysis
Structure: mis (badly/wrongly) + carry (bear/transport)
- mis: from old english mis-, of germanic origin; a prefix meaning 'badly', 'wrongly', or 'incorrectly'.
- carry: from anglo-norman french carier, ultimately from latin carrus 'wheeled vehicle'; in this context, it means 'to bear' or 'to transport'.
Examples
sadly, she miscarried in her fourth month of pregnancy.
without proper planning, the entire project could miscarry.
the confidential documents miscarried and ended up in the wrong hands.