578 M I S 
meyffen, i. e. meydfen, a girl. Todd.'] The term of honour 
to a young girl. Johnfon.- — Miffs, at the beginning of the 
laft century, was appropriated to the daughters of gen¬ 
tlemen under the age of ten, or given opprobrioufly to 
young women reproachable for the giddinefs or irregula¬ 
rity of their conduft. See Notes on Steele’s Ep. Corre- 
fpond. i. 92. MiftreJ's was then the ftyle of grown-up un¬ 
married ladies, though the mother was living ; and, for a 
confiderable part of the century, maintained its ground 
againft the infantine term of mil's. Todd. —Where there 
are little mafters and mijfes in a houfe, they are great impe¬ 
diments to the diveriions of the fervants. Swift. — A 
ftrumpet; a concubine ; a whore ; a prollitute : 
All women would be of one piece, 
The virtuous matron and the mifs. Hudibras. 
To MISS, v. a. [miffen, Dut. and Ger.] Not to hit by 
the mind ; to miftake : 
Nor can I mifs the way, fo ftrongly drawn 
By this new-felt attraflion, and inftinft. Milton's P. L. 
Not to hit by manual aim : 
The life you boafted to your javelin given, 
Prince, you have 'miffs'd. Pope. 
To fail of obtaining.—If fhe defired above all things to 
have Orgalus, Orgalus feared nothing but to mifs Par- 
thenia. Sidney. 
Where fhall a maid’s diftradled heart find reft, 
If fhe can mijs it in her lover’s breaft ? Dryden. 
To difcover fomething to be unexpedledly wanting.— 
Without him I found a weaknefs, and a miftruftfulnefs of 
myfelf, as one ftrayed from his belt ftrength, when at any 
time I mi fed him. Sidney. —To be without: 
We cannot mifs him ; he does make our fire, 
Fetch in our wood. Shahejpeare's Tempejl. 
To omit.—He that is fo tender of himfelf, that he can 
never find in his heart fo much as to mifs a meal, by way 
of punifhment for his faults, fhews he is not much fallen 
out with himfelf. Whole Duty of Man. 
She would never mifs one day, 
A walk fo fine, a fight fo gay. Prior. 
To perceive want of.—He who has a firm fmcere friend, 
may want all the reft without miffing them. South. 
My redoubled love and care. 
May ever tend about thee to old age 
With all things grateful cheer’d, and fo fupply'd, 
That what by me thou haft loft thou leaft flunk mifs. 
Milton's S. A. 
To MISS, t>. n. To fly wide ; not to hit: 
Flying bullets now 
To execute his rage appear too flow : 
They mifs, or fweep but common fouls away. Waller. 
Not to fucceed.—The general root of fuperftition is, that 
men obferve when things hit, and not when they mifs; and 
commit to memory the one, and forget and pals over the 
other. Bacon. —To fail; to miftake : 
Emongft the angels, a whole legione 
Of wicked fprites did fall from happy blis ; 
What wonder then if one, of women all, did mis ? 
Spenjer's F. Q. 
To be loft; to be wanting.—Thy lhepherds we hurt not, 
neither was there ought mi ffmg unto them. 1 Sam. xxv. 7. 
My lord, 
Upon my lady’s miffing, came to me 
With his fword drawn. Shahefpeare's Cymbeline. 
For a time caught up to God, as once 
Moles was in the mount, and miffing long, 
And the great Thifbite, who on fiery wheels 
Bode up to heav’11, yet once again to come. Milton. 
M X S 
To mifcarry ; to fail; as by accident.—-Grittus, miffing of 
the Moldavian, fell upon Maylat. Knollcs. 
The invention all admir'd, and each, how he 
To be the inventor miffs'd, fo eafy it feem'd, 
Once found, which yet unfound moft would have thought 
Impoftibie. Milton's Paradij'e LoJ't. 
To fail to obtain, learn, or find : fometimes with of before 
the objebl.—The moral and relative perfedtions of the 
Deity are eafy to be underftood by us; upon the leaft re- 
fiedtion we cannot mijs of them. Atterbury's Sermons. 
MISS, f. [from the verb.] Lofs; want.—If thefe papers 
have that evidence in them, there will be no great miffs of 
thofe which are loft, and my reader may be l'atislied with¬ 
out them. Locke. 
I could have better fpar’d a better man. 
Oh ! I fhould have a heavy miffs of thee, 
If I were much in love with vanity. Shahejpeare's Hen. IV. 
Miftake; error: \_mijfa, Goth, miy, Sax.]—Amends for 
mifffe he now will make. Prcfion's Trag. of King Cambijcs. 
I found my miffs, ftruck hands, and pray’d him tell 
(To hold acquaintance lull) where he did dwell. Dome. 
Hurt; harm. Obj'olete: 
In humble dales is footing fall. 
The trode is not fo tickle ; 
And, though one fall through heedlefs hafte, 
Yet is his mifffe not mickle. Spenjer's Shcp. Cal. 
MISS, a river of Carinthia, which runs into the Drave 
five miles eaft of Lavamund. 
MISS, or Misseourn, a river of England, which rifes 
near Milfenden in Buckingharnfhire, and runs into the 
Coin near Uxbridge. 
MIS'SA, J\ [Latin.] The mafs. See vol. xiv. p. 506. 
MIS'SAL, J'. [ miffale, Lat.] The mafs-book.—By the 
rubrick of the miffal, in every folemn mafs the prieft is to 
go up to the middle of the altar. Stilling feet. 
MISSASSA'GA, an iiland that lies oppofite to the 
mouth of the river Trent in Upper Canada, and at the 
fame diftance from the portage at the head of the bay of 
Quito. 
MISSASSA'GA, a river of Upper Canada, which runs 
into lake Huron, between le Serpent and Theffalon rivers, 
on the north fliore. 
MISSASSA'GAS, a tribe of Indians who inhabit the 
fhores of the above river. The men are in general flout, 
and moft excellent hunters and fifhers; but lefs warlike 
than any of the neighbouring nations. They are of a 
darker complexion than other Indians ; fome of them be¬ 
ing nearly as black as negroes. Both men and women, 
particularly the latter, are very dirty and flovenly in their 
appearance ; the rancid, greafe and fifh-oil, with which the 
women daub their hair, necks, and faces, render them in 
a fummer’s day extremely offenfive. Thefe Indians fup- 
ply the inhabitants of Kingfton, of Niagara, and of the 
different towns on the lake, with fifh and game, the value 
of which is ellimated by bottles of brandy and loaves of 
bread. 
MISSAT'ICUS,/ [Latin.] In old records, a meffenger. 
AJh. 
To MISSAY', v. n. To fpeak ill of; to cenfure. Olffolctc: 
Their ill haviour garres men mi]ay, 
Both of their dodlrine and their fay. Spenjer's Shep. Cal. 
To fay wrong.—We are not dwarfs, but of equal llature, 
if Vives mi fay not. Haheivill on Providence. 
Diggon Davie, I bid her god day, 
Or Diggon her is, or I mi fay. Spenjer's Shep. Cal. 
To MISSAY', v. a. To cenfure; to flander; to fpeak ill 
of.—Was never wight miffaid of here. Chaucer. —To utter 
amifs: 
Pray for us there. 
That what they have mifdone. 
Or miffaid, we to that may not adhere. Donne's Poems. 
MISSAY'ING, 
