c.1300, "go astray;" mid-14c., "come to harm, perish;" of persons, "to die," of objects, "to be lost or destroyed," from mis-(1) "wrongly" + caryen "to carry" (see carry, v.). Meaning "deliver unviable fetus" first recorded 1520s; that of "fail, come to naught" (of plans or designs) is from c.1600. Related: Miscarried; miscarrying.