mischief: [13] Etymologically, mischief is something that ‘happens amiss’. The word comes from Old French meschef, a derivative of the verb meschever ‘meet with misfortune’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix mis- ‘wrongly, amiss’ and chever ‘happen’ (which came ultimately from Latin caput ‘head’, and etymologically meant ‘come to a head’). It still meant ‘misfortune’ when English acquired it; in the 14th century the sense ‘harm, damage’ emerged, but the more trivial modern sense ‘naughtiness’ did not develop until the 18th century.
mischief (n.)
c. 1300, "evil condition, misfortune, need, want," from Old French meschief "misfortune, harm, trouble; annoyance, vexation" (12c., Modern French méchef), verbal noun from meschever "come or bring to grief, be unfortunate" (opposite of achieve), from mes- "badly" (see mis- (2)) + chever "happen, come to a head," from Vulgar Latin *capare "head," from Latin caput "head" (see capitulum). Meaning "harm or evil considered as the work of some agent or due to some cause" is from late 15c. Sense of "playful malice" first recorded 1784.
Mischief Night in 19c. England was the eve of May Day and of Nov. 5, both major holidays, and perhaps the original point was pilfering for the next day's celebration and bonfire; but in Yorkshire, Scotland, and Ireland the night was Halloween. The useful Middle English verb mischieve (early 14c.) has, for some reason, fallen from currency.
双语例句
1. James Fox is best known as the author of White Mischief.
詹姆斯·福克斯以《欲望城》一书最为出名.
来自柯林斯例句
2. The letter had come from an unknown mischief-maker.
这封信来自一个匿名的离间者。
来自柯林斯例句
3. His eyes were full of mischief.
他的眼中满是狡黠。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Those children are always getting into mischief .
那些孩子总是淘气。
来自《权威词典》
5. Don't play the mischief with the cards I have arranged.
