[Loch-Ruadh] word for the day & a question

[Jane Sitton]

Your daily vocabulary lesson:
misnomer * \miss-NOH-mer\ * (noun) 1 : the misnaming of a person in a legal
instrument 2 *a : a use of a wrong name b : a wrong name or designation
Example sentence: Calling the aboriginal peoples of the western hemisphere
"Indians" was one of the great misnomers in recorded history.
Did you know? What's in a name? Well, in some cases, a name will contain an
error, a misunderstanding, or a mislabeling. Historians have long noted that
the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. The Battle of
Bunker Hill was actually fought on Breed's Hill. And the Pennsylvania Dutch
are actually of German ancestry. For such cases we have the term "misnomer,"
which comes from the Middle French verb "mesnommer" ("to misname") and
ultimately from "nomen," the Latin word for "name."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
Okay, here's my question:  Can anyone explain what the Holy Roman Empire
was?

Madelina