mondegreen
English · Thesaurus
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mondegreen
- /ˈmɒndəɡɹiːn/ UK
- /ˈmɑndəɡɹiːn/ US
Where it comes from
Coined by American journalist and editor Sylvia Wright in 1954 in Harper's Magazine from mishearing a line in the Scottish ballad The Bonnie Earl o' Moray: “They have slain the Earl o' Moray, / And laid him on the green”, the second line being misheard as, “And Lady Mondegreen”.
noun mondegreens
-
A form of (possibly intentional) error arising from mishearing a spoken or sung phrase, possibly in a different language.
Our report of a relative who, as a child, thought the classic version of the Lord's Prayer began "Our father, a chart in heaven, Harold be thy name" stated that this type of mistake is known as an eggcorn. A number of readers have suggested that instances like this in which a whole phrase rather tha
Similar: mishearing
- A misunderstanding of a written or spoken phrase as a result of multiple definitions.
Translations
Talk about this word "mondegreen." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mondegreen. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mondegreen. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mondegreen "mondegreen." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mondegreen.Cite this
@misc{mondegreen_2026,
title = {mondegreen},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mondegreen},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
