Other forms: misdemeanors
A misdemeanor is a minor offence with a light punishment. Charged with a misdemeanor, a misdemeanor conviction, just a misdemeanor.
In American law it is the middle tier: below a felony, above an infraction, and usually punishable by less than a year in county jail. The spelling with -or is American; British writing uses misdemeanour, and the word there is old-fashioned and general rather than a legal class. Note demeanour, meaning bearing or conduct.
1nounmisdemeanorA minor offence with a light punishment.
“He was charged with a misdemeanor for shoplifting and paid a small fine.”
misdemeanor is a minor offence.
Also accepted in games: misdemeanour
Middle English
demenure
English
demeanor
English, today
misdemeanor
Built from
From mis- + demeanor. demeanor comes from Middle English demenure, from the verb Middle English demenen (“to handle, manage”), from Old French demener (“to guide, conduct”), from de- + mener (“to conduct, lead”), from Latin mināre (“to drive”) and minor (“to project or jut forth”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA