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mis·cre·ant

(mĭskrē-ənt)

1. One who behaves badly, often by breaking rules of conduct or the law.

2. Archaic One who does not believe in a certain religion; an infidel or heretic.

[Middle English miscreaunt, heretic, from Old French mescreant, present participle of mescroire, to disbelieve : mes-, wrongly, not; see MIS-¹ + croire, to believe (from Latin crēdere; see kerd- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).]

miscre·ant adj.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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