erroné

Forms

erroné (feminine erronée, masculine plural erronés, feminine plural erronées)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin errōneus, which in classical Latin meant “wandering, vagrant” and in Christian Latin “in error, false”.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin adjective comes from errō (“vagabond”), itself from the verb meaning “to wander”, the source of errer.^[3][4][6] Bloch and Wartburg note that French took the word to serve as the adjective of erreur.^[7]

The TLFi dates it to about 1375;^[2][7][8][9] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give the 15th century.^[2][7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1375 in Raoul de Presles's translation of Augustine's Cité de Dieu, in opinion erronee “erroneous opinion”, of a belief that is ill-founded.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the start the adjective described an opinion, doctrine or conclusion that is mistaken, often in religious matters: Littré quotes a 15th-century text on a proposition erronée en la foy catholique “erroneous in the Catholic faith”.^[2][6] In the 20th century it came to be said also of a thing that simply contains a mistake, such as an address.^[4] The adverb erronément “by mistake” is from the 16th century.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1375 – Raoul de Presles writes opinion erronee.^[2][3]
• 1389 – Jean Le Petit writes of conclusions ... erronees.^[2]
• 16th century – The adverb erronément is recorded.^[3]
• 20th century – It is used of things that contain an error.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. erroneous, mistaken, ill-founded: un calcul erroné.^[9][2][4]
2. Containing an error, inaccurate: une date erronée.^[9][4]

Word family

• erronément

Related words

• erreur
• errer
• errata
• Latin errōneus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 241a
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert