error

Forms

error m (plural errores)^[1] Old Spanish texts also spell it herror.^[2] In 13th-century verse the word is sometimes feminine: Berceo has sue mala error and the Libro de Apolonio tamanya error.^[3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin error (“a wandering; doubt, mistake”).^[4][5][1][6] The Latin noun is formed from errō (“to wander, stray; to be mistaken”) with the suffix -or.^[7][1] The popular noun of the verb is yerro, from errar; the 1726 Autoridades says that erro was said in the old language.^[8][9]

The same Latin word is Catalan error, French erreur, Italian errore and Romanian eroare.^[1][10] De Vaan derives the verb from Proto-Italic *ers-āje-, a verb to a noun Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers-o- (“erring, error”), perhaps from the root *h₁ers- (“to flow”);^[11][1] Wiktionary reports this and an alternative of Nussbaum's.^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first record is in the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (c. 1215, in a 14th-century copy): las villas de enderredor todas eran en grant error, the towns around were all in great error.^[3][12] Corominas cites Berceo and the Breve diccionario dates the word 1220–1250; in Berceo's Del sacrificio de la misa whoever does not believe in the Eucharist seríé en grant error.^[8][4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Spanish the word meant a mistake but also a fault or sin, as in the Libro de Apolonio and in Berceo's malos errores.^[13][14] Medieval Latin used error for false belief and heresy, and the Rimado de Palacio has the sense “offence, wrong”.^[15][8] The 1726 Autoridades defined it as taking the false for true and the uncertain for certain, and also as a fault or defect.^[9]

The Academy's dictionaries kept the senses “false judgment” and figuratively “fault, defect” through the 19th century.^[16][17] Gaspar y Roig recorded the legal error de derecho and error de hecho in 1853, and the DLE now adds the legal sense of a mistake that voids an act and the scientific sense of a difference from the true value.^[18][5] In the baseball of Nicaragua, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico an error is a fielder's misplay.^[19][20]

Timeline

• c. 1215 – the Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (in a 14th-century copy) has grant error.^[3]
• 1220–1250 – the first record according to the Breve diccionario.^[4]
• c. 1240–1272 – Herman the German's Psalter, the first record without a later copy.^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives errada o error for Latin erratum and error.^[21]
• 1579 – the first record in the Americas, an error in an account, in Havana.^[22]
• 1726 – the Diccionario de Autoridades notes the older form erro.^[9]
• 1853 – Gaspar y Roig records error de derecho and error de hecho.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mistaken idea or false judgment: Creer eso fue un error.^[5][1]
2. A wrong or mistaken action; a thing done wrongly: Hay un error en la factura.^[5]
3. (law) A mistake made in good faith that vitiates consent and can void a legal act.^[5][23]
4. (physics, mathematics) The difference between a measured or calculated value and the true one.^[5]
5. (baseball, Caribbean) A fielder's misplay that lets a runner advance.^[19][20]

Related words

• errar
• yerro
• erróneo
• errata
• errático
• Latin error

Usage notes

Moliner notes partitive uses such as inducir a error and perseverar en el error.^[23]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. error
3. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. error
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. errar
5. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. error
6. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 659
9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 546
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. error
13. ^ Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 229
14. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 339
15. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 308
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 444
18. ^ a b Gaspar y Roig (eds.) (1853–1855), Biblioteca ilustrada de Gaspar y Roig: Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Imprenta y Librería de Gaspar y Roig, p. 1, 897
19. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. error
20. ^ a b Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. error
21. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv
22. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. error
23. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. error