different between miser vs misery

English

Etymology

From Late Latin miser (“wretched, unfortunate, unhappy, miserable, sick, ill, bad, worthless, etc.”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ma?z?(?)/
• :Rhymes: -a?z?(r)

Noun

miser (plural misers)

1. (derogatory) A person who hoards money rather than spending it; one who is cheap or extremely parsimonious.

   Ebenezer Scrooge was a stereotypical miser: he spent nothing he could save, neither giving to charity nor enjoying his wealth.

2. A kind of earth auger, typically large-bored and often hand-operated.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:miser

Antonyms

• spendthrift

Derived terms

• miserly

Related terms

• miserable
• misery

Translations

See also

• misère

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• IMers, Mires, Reims, Rimes, emirs, mires, reims, reism, remis, riems, rimes

French

Etymology

mise +? -er

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.ze/

Verb

miser

1. (gambling) to bet (place a bet)

Conjugation

Derived terms

• miser sur le mauvais cheval

Descendants

• ? Romanian: miza

Further reading

• “miser” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• émirs, mires, mirés, Reims, remis, rimes, rîmes

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *misseros, of unknown origin. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *m?wd?- (“to complain, be emotional about”), the same root of Latin maere? and Ancient Greek ????? (mîsos, “hatred”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?mi.ser/, [?m?s??r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?mi.ser/, [?mi?s??r]

Adjective

miser (feminine misera, neuter miserum, comparative miserior, superlative miserrimus, adverb miseriter); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

1. poor, wretched, pitiful
   • 29 bc. Vergil. Aeneid, Book I

     n?n ign?ra mal? miser?s succurrere disc?

     being not unacquainted with woe, I learn to help the unfortunate

   • Catullus. Catullus 8

     Miser Catulle, d?sin?s inept?re

     Poor Catullus, stop with the nonsense

2. miserable, unhappy
3. worthless, null
4. tragic, unfortunate
5. sick
6. tormenting

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• Eastern Romance:
  • Romanian: meser, measer
• Italian: misero
• Old French: mezre
• ? Catalan: míser
• ? Portuguese: mísero
• ? Spanish: mísero
• ? Albanian: mjerë (disputed)
• ? English: miser
• ? Romanian: mizer

References

• miser in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• miser in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• miser in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
• H. H. Mallinckrodt, Latijn Nederlands woordenboek (Aula n° 24), Utrecht-Antwerpen, Spectrum, 1959 [Latin - Dutch dictionary in Dutch]

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser. Doublet of misère.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?z(?)??/
• (General American) enPR: m?z??-r?, m?z?r?, IPA^(key): /?m?z(?)?i/
• Hyphenation: mis?ery

Noun

misery (countable and uncountable, plural miseries)

1. Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
2. (US and Britain, dialects) A bodily ache or pain.
   • 1868, John Vestal Hadley, Seven Months a Prisoner, page 15:

     [...] and I had a misery in my left breast and shoulder. I was hurt, but knew not how or how much.

3. Cause of misery; calamity; misfortune.
4. (Extreme) poverty.
5. (archaic) greed; avarice.

Synonyms

• see Thesaurus:greed

Derived terms

• put out of one's misery

Related terms

• commiserate
• miser
• miserable

Translations

Anagrams

• Myries