misidentify

[ mis-ahy-den-tuh-fahy, -i-den- ]

/ ˌmɪs aɪˈdɛn təˌfaɪ, -ɪˈdɛn- /

to identify incorrectly.

Origin of misidentify

First recorded in 1890–95; mis-¹ + identify

mis·i·den·ti·fi·ca·tion, noun

The misidentification has since been corrected, and The Daily Beast regrets the error.

Choking Back Tears, Thousands of Cops Honor Fallen Officer Ramos |Michael Daly |December 28, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
No doubt, there are wrongful convictions that result from misidentification and coerced confessions.

How I Stopped My Rapist |Natasha Alexenko |November 24, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Misidentification of the problem means a delayed legitimate diagnosis—no small thing when it comes to matters of the heart.

Recent Study Links Occurrence of Natural Disasters to Increase of Medical Heartbreak |Rachel Hochhauser |April 3, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
“The scientists attributed it to the misidentification of those bodily symptoms of fear,” says Lehrer.

The Science of When to Get Married |Hannah Seligson |April 7, 2009 |DAILY BEAST

Farrell's misidentification established another truth—they were brothers.

Thoroughbreds |W. A. Fraser
The alleged occurrence of remains of giant pangolins in the upper Tertiary of Europe is due to misidentification (see Ancylopoda).

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 10 |Various
Taylor (1940a) noted this as a case of misidentification and corrected the error but left longipes in the genus Eleutherodactylus.

A Taxonomic Revision of the Leptodactylid Frog Genus Syrrhophus Cope |John D. Lynch