Etymologically
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errore

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Pronunciation

Forms

errore m (plural errori)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin error (“wandering; mistake”), a learned word, from the verb errō (“to wander; to err”).[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun is continued in every Romance language: Romanian eroare, Friulian erôr, Romansh errur, Old French error, Old Occitan error, Catalan error, Spanish error and Portuguese error.[5] The LEI classes the Italian form with those of popular transmission, and notes Tuscan forms with a single ⟨r⟩ that probably came from the north.[5]

De Vaan derives errō from Proto-Italic *ersāje-, a verb formed on a noun meaning “erring”, from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to flow”); its cognates include Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌴𐌹𐍃 (airzeis, “mistaken”) and Old High German irren (“to go astray”).[6][1] Devoto describes the shift of meaning as one from aimless wandering to a wrong aim and a wrong result.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur super natura feminarum of the late 12th century.[8] DELI's first date is Bono Giamboni (before 1292), for a departure from what is true, right or normal;[9][3] GRADIT dates the word to about 1274.[9][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the Latin sense of wandering was still alive: the TLIO lists aimless movement, the course of the planets and a detour from a road, and also confusion and torment of the mind.[8] Petrarch speaks of the errori of Ulysses, his wanderings, and opens the Canzoniere with “In sul mio primo giovenile errore” (at the time of my first youthful error).[10][11] The LEI records the sense “aimless wandering” in literary Italian from Boccaccio (1373–1374) to Pascoli (about 1912).[5]

In religious language an errore was a sin or a heresy, and in law it became a mistaken belief that makes a will or a contract defective;[3][12][13] errore giudiziario is the conviction of an innocent person.[3][12][13] In science it is the difference between the true value and the measured or calculated one.[3][14] The sense of wandering survives only in poetry, as in Leopardi's “giovanile error”.[13]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – The word appears in the Venetian Proverbia quae dicuntur super natura feminarum.[8]
  • About 1274 – GRADIT's date for the word.[3]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a departure from the truth.[9]
  • 1373–1374 – Boccaccio uses it for aimless wandering.[5]
  • Before 1374 – Petrarch writes of the errori of Ulysses.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A mistake, an error; a wrong judgement or opinion: un errore di calcolo, Ho fatto l'errore di fidarmi.[3][11][14][12]
  2. An unwise or harmful action: Vendere la casa adesso sarebbe un errore.[3][11][14]
  3. A fault or sin; in religion, a false belief: un errore di gioventù.[3][11][13]
  4. (law) A false picture of reality that vitiates the will in a legal act: errore di fatto, errore di diritto.[3][11][12]
  5. (mathematics, physics) The difference between the true value of a quantity and the measured or approximate one.[3][14][12]
  6. (literary) Wandering, a roaming journey; also a straying of the imagination.[3][14][12]

Word family

  • erroneo

Usage notes

Common phrases are per errore (by mistake), salvo errore (unless I am mistaken), cadere in errore and indurre in errore (to mislead).[12][13][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1526
  5. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 710
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  9. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 5, 265
  11. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  14. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  15. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli