miscall

noun

1. Archaic form of miskal.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English miscallen, equivalent to mis- + call.

1. To call (someone) bad names; to insult, abuse.

   “But one aboue the rest in speciall, / That had an hog beene late, hight Grille by name, / Repined greatly, and did him miscall, / That had from hoggish forme him brought to naturall.”

   “He there exhorts us to hear with patience and humility those, however they be miscall'd, that desire to live purely, in such a use of Gods Ordinances, as the best guidance of their conscience gives them, and to tolerat them, though in some disconformity to our selves.”

2. To call (someone or something) incorrectly or by the wrong title or name.

   “I can believe such an instance—can believe love taking strong root amid cruelty, poverty, suffering, and danger, rather than in the withering atmosphere of this crowded city—this miscalled social, but really heartless, life; where petty interests distract the mind, and mean desires absorb the heart.”

   “‘In this country, peasants miscall it “Cowslip,” though of course the true Cowslip, Primula veris, is a different plant altogether.’”

3. To make a wrong call (prediction or announcement).

   “The networks soon discovered that they had miscalled Florida, based, so it was later explained, on important errors and miscalculations made from their combined pool source of information, the Voter News Service.”

4. To make a wrong call (prediction or announcement).

   “When the loser thinks he has the hand beat he turns over his hand only to find that the winner has miscalled his hand, and since "cards speak," the miscaller wins.”