different between amiss vs defective

English

Etymology

From a- +? miss.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /??m?s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Adjective

amiss (comparative more amiss, superlative most amiss)

1. (chiefly predicative) Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper or otherwise incorrect.

   He suspected something was amiss.

   Something amiss in the arrangements had distracted the staff.

   • 1722, William Wollaston, The Religion of Nature Delineated:

     His wisdom and virtue cannot always rectify that which is amiss in himself or his circumstances.

   • 1836, Charles Joseph La Trobe, The Rambler in Mexico:

     Moreover, all were furnished with carbines and cartridge boxes, and the leader was armed with a sabre with a leather sheath. This was not so much amiss, and would do very well at a distance: but during the two hours' halt at the village aforesaid, I took it into my head, while the owners were enjoying their siesta under the shade of the gateway, just to stride in among them, and take a nearer inspection of the weapons.

   • 2009, Robert Perrucci and Carolyn Cummings Perrucci, America at Risk: The Crisis of Hope, Trust, and Caring :

     There is a strong feeling across the land that something is amiss in America. You sometimes hear about these feelings when people discuss their concerns about how the baby boom generation is going to bankrupt our social security or Medicare programs, or about the growing size of the national debt that will be paid for by future generations.

Derived terms

• dead amiss
• go amiss

Translations

Adverb

amiss (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Wrongly; mistakenly
   • c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act II, scene ix^[1]:

     "The fire seven times tried this:

     Seven times tried that judgement is,

     That did never choose amiss.

     Some there be that shadows kiss:

     Such have but a shadow's bliss.

     There be fools alive, I wis,

     Silver'd o'er; and so was this.

     I will ever be your head:

     So be gone: you are sped."

   • 1899, The Laxdaela Saga (translated by Muriel A. C. Press) Chapter 44

     Then Hrefna said she would coif herself with it, and Thurid said she had better, and Hrefna did so. When Kalf saw that he gave her to understand that she had done amiss; and bade her take it off at her swiftest. "For that is the one thing that we, Kjartan and I, do not own in common."

2. Astray.
3. Imperfectly.

Noun

amiss (plural amisses)

1. (obsolete) Fault; wrong; an evil act, a bad deed.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.i:

     Now by my head (said Guyon) much I muse, / How that same knight should do so foule amis […] .

   • 1635, John Donne, "His parting from her":

     Yet Love, thou'rt blinder then thy self in this, / To vex my Dove-like friend for my amiss […] .

Further reading

• amiss in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• amiss in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Masis, Massi, Samis, Simas, Sisam, missa, saims, simas

English

Etymology

From Middle French défectif, from Late Latin defectivus.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??f?kt?v/
• Rhymes: -?kt?v

Adjective

defective (comparative more defective, superlative most defective)

1. Having one or more defects.

   Synonym: faulty

   Antonyms: complete, perfect
2. (grammar, of a lexeme, especially a verb) Lacking some forms; e.g., having only one tense or being usable only in the third person.
3. (Arabic grammar, of a verb) Having a root whose final consonant is weak (?, ?, or ?).
4. (Hebrew orthography) Spelled without matres lectionis, for example ??? (ómets, “courage”) as opposed to the plene spelling ???? where the letter vav ??? indicates the vowel o.

   Antonym: plene

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "defective" is often applied: merchandise, goods, part, component, product, equipment, gene, unit, construction, design, drug, memory, wiring, machine, device, instrument, hardware, software, vehicle.

Related terms

Translations

Noun

defective (plural defectives)

1. A person or thing considered to be defective.

See also

• Wikipedia article on defective verbs

References

Interlingua

Adjective

defective (comparative plus defective, superlative le plus defective)

1. defective (having defects)