error

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈer.ə/, US /ˈer.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English errour,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French error (“mistake, flaw, defect, heresy”), errour,^[4][2] from Latin error (“a wandering, straying; doubt; mistake”),^[4][2] from errāre “to wander, err”,^[4][2][5] the source of err.^[4][2] The usual spelling until the end of the 18th century was errour, as in Johnson's Dictionary.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The condition of erring, holding mistaken opinions: before 1300 in the OED, probably before 1300 in Barnhart, in Arthour and Merlin.^[6][2] A mistake, and an offence against morality: about 1300 in Etymonline,^[4] about 1303 in Barnhart, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[2]

Semantic evolution

False belief or heresy is from the early 14th century,^[4] and deviation from what is normal, an aberration, from the late 14th century.^[4] A flaw in the making of a thing is from 1398,^[6] and in law a mistake in the proceedings of a court from 1495.^[6] The literal sense, roaming or wandering, appears in English from 1594, after Latin.^[6] In science, the difference between an observed and a true value is from 1726.^[4] Words for error in most Indo-European languages originally meant “to wander, go astray”, while Irish dearmad is from “a forgetting”.^[4]

Timeline

• a. 1300 – the condition of erring.^[6][2]
• c. 1303 – a mistake.^[2]
• 1398 – a flaw.^[6]
• 1495 – in law.^[6]
• 1594 – a wandering.^[6]
• 1726 – in measurement.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A mistake; an act, statement or belief that is wrong.
2. The state of being wrong: in error.
3. A wrongdoing or sin.
4. (mathematics, science) The difference between a computed or measured value and the true one.
5. (baseball) A misplay by a fielder.

Word family

• errorless
• errorlessly
• error bar
• probable error
• standard error
• trial and error
• type I error
• type II error

Related words

• err
• errant
• erroneous
• erratic
• erratum
• aberration

Usage notes

Error, mistake, oversight and offence all refer to what is not in accord with truth, accuracy or propriety; error suggests a departure from the correct path, often moral.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin