Misgloss

Upis taught, Misunderstood, misgloss'd, the tale how brought Harmonia was to Cadmus — higher than Her mate in race, a dæmon, he mere man;

But the definition is anachronistic and misglosses the citation it was presumably devised to explain.

Both its traditional subject matter and the concision of its form have recommended it to this very day as a promise of "infinite riches in a little room” (=stanza) , to misgloss Marlowe's phrase.

In a scheme that involves material possessions in huge quantity and counts on Calchas's thrice-invoked greed (1369, 1377–78, 1399), Criseyde claims that she will convince Calchas that it was his cowardice that caused him to misgloss "goddes text" (1409-11).

It means 'white tip' and not 'white of the eye' as Krämer misglosses it.

Recently, this misgloss has led to an impossible interpretation of the Beowulf poet's allusion to "beornas on blancum" [warriors on white horses] (856a) and their racing on "fealwe mearwas" [fallow horses] (865b) in the episode of the Danes and Geats coming back from the mere.

Starostin's sisi 'deer' is a misgloss, the word can refer to 'deer' as an 'animal for consumption' but does not necessary do so.

Here such cases as ghost words & misglosses, secondary semantics, different etymologies for one etymon or one etymology for different etyma, and finally semantic overpermissiveness are discussed.