Common forms include vandalism, and graffiti. In United States criminal law, mischief is an offense against property that typically involves the intentional or reckless infliction of property damage, defacement, alteration, or destruction of property.

It does not require actual damage to property for the offence to be committed financial damage consequential to the act is sufficient, unlike vandalism which requires actual damage to property to form the offence, the latter being defined by section 52 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995. Malicious mischief is an offence against the common law of Scotland.

The etymology of the word comes from Old French meschief, which means 'misfortune', from meschever, 'to end badly'. While the wrongful acts will often involve what is popularly described as vandalism, there can be a legal differentiation between vandalism and mischief. The useful Middle English verb mischieve (early 14c.), used by Skelton and Gavin Douglas, has, for some reason, fallen from currency.Mischief or malicious mischief is the name for a criminal offenses that is defined differently in different legal jurisdictions. 5, both major holidays, and perhaps the original point was pilfering for the next day's celebration and bonfire but in Yorkshire, Scotland, and Ireland the night was Halloween. England was the eve of May Day and of Nov. The meaning has softened with time in Middle English to be full of mischief was to be miserable to make mischief was 'to result in misery.' Sense of 'playful malice' is recorded by 1784. Meaning 'harm or evil considered as the work of some agent or due to some cause' is from late 15c. 1300, 'evil condition, misfortune hardship, need, want wickedness, wrongdoing, evil,' from Old French meschief 'misfortune, harm, trouble annoyance, vexation' (12c., Modern French méchef), verbal noun from meschever 'come or bring to grief, be unfortunate' (opposite of achieve), from mes- 'badly' (see mis- (2)) + chever 'happen, come to a head,' from Vulgar Latin *capare 'head,' from Latin caput 'head' (from PIE root *kaput- 'head').

Mischief meaning