different between bruise vs mischief

English

Alternative forms

• bruize (obsolete)
• brise (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English bruisen, brusen, brosen, brisen, bresen, from a merger two words, both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *b?rews- (“to break”):

• Old English br?san, br?esan (“to bruise; crush”), from Proto-Germanic *brausijan?, *br?sijan? (“to break; crumble; crack”). Provided the word's sense.
• Anglo-Norman bruiser, bruser (“to break, smash, shatter”), from Gaulish *brus-, from Proto-Celtic *bruseti (“to break”). Provided the word's form.

Cognate with Scots brizz, German brausen (“to roar; boom; pound”), Old English brosnian (“to crumble, fall apart”), Dutch broos (“brittle”), German Brosame (“crumb”), dialectal Norwegian brøysk (“breakable”), Latin frustum (“bit, scrap”), Old Church Slavonic ???????? (br?snuti, “to rake”), Albanian breshër (“hail”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: bro?oz, IPA^(key): /b?u?z/
• Homophone: brews
• Rhymes: -u?z

Verb

bruise (third-person singular simple present bruises, present participle bruising, simple past and past participle bruised)

1. (transitive) To strike (a person), originally with something flat or heavy, but now specifically in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it.
2. (transitive) To damage the skin of (fruit or vegetables), in an analogous way.
3. (intransitive) Of fruit or vegetables, to gain bruises through being handled roughly.

   Bananas bruise easily.

4. (intransitive) To become bruised.

   I bruise easily.

5. (intransitive) To fight with the fists; to box.

   • Bruising was considered a fine, manly, old English custom.

6. (transitive) To impair (gin) by shaking rather than stirring.

Derived terms

• bruiser
• bruising

Translations

Noun

bruise (plural bruises)

1. A purplish mark on the skin due to leakage of blood from capillaries under the surface that have been damaged by a blow.
2. A dark mark on fruit or vegetables caused by a blow to the surface.

Synonyms

• (medical): ecchymosis, contusion (technical term)
• See also Thesaurus:injury

Translations

Anagrams

• Uribes, buries, busier, rubies

Dutch

Verb

bruise

1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of bruisen

Irish

Noun

bruise f sg

1. genitive singular of bruis (“brush; pubic hair”)

Mutation

References

• "bruise" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

English

Etymology

From Middle English myschef, meschef, meschief, mischef, from Old French meschief, from meschever (“to bring to grief”), from mes- (“badly”) + chever (“happen; come to a head”), from Vulgar Latin *capare, from Latin caput (“head”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?st??f/, /?m??t??f/
• Rhymes: -?st??f

Noun

mischief (countable and uncountable, plural mischiefs)

1. (uncountable) Conduct that playfully causes petty annoyance.

   Synonyms: delinquency, naughtiness, roguery, scampishness; see also Thesaurus:villainy, Thesaurus:mischief

2. (countable) A playfully annoying action.

3. (collective) A group or a pack of rats.
   • 2014, G. W. Rennie, The Rat Chronicles, iUniverse ?ISBN, page 21

     Kirac, the leader of the rats under his charge, speaks to the major through his telepathic abilities that manifested after the alien virus infected him and his mischief of rats.

   • 2015, Rachel Smith, John Davidson, Rats For Kids, Mendon Cottage Books ?ISBN, page 6

     A group of rats is not a herd or a gaggle, but a pack or a mischief of rats. Rats in general are omnivorous, meaning they will eat almost anything.

4. (archaic) Harm or injury:
   1. (uncountable) Harm or trouble caused by an agent or brought about by a particular cause.
      • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, Volume I, Chapter 8:

        Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.
   2. (countable) An injury or an instance of harm or trouble caused by a person or other agent or cause.

5. (law) A criminal offence defined in various ways in various jurisdictions, sometimes including causing damage to another's property.
6. (archaic, countable) A cause or agent of annoyance, harm or injury, especially a person who causes mischief.

   Synonyms: bad boy, knave, rapscallion, rascal, rogue; see also Thesaurus:villain, Thesaurus:troublemaker
7. (euphemistic) The Devil; used as an expletive.
   • 1967, The Statesman (volume 12, page 260)

     What the mischief are you? and how the mischief did you get here, and where in thunder did you come from?

8. (Australia) Casual and/or flirtatious sexual acts.

Synonyms

• (harm or injury): agitation, annoyance, corruption, damage, demolition, destruction, detriment, disablement, disruption, evil, harm, hurt, ill, impairment, incapacitation, injury, nuisance, pique, ravage, sabotage, scathe, trouble, undoing, unmaking, vexation, weakening, wrong

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• mischief at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Mischief in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Middle English

Noun

mischief

1. Alternative form of myschef