Etymologically
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erro

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɛr.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛr.ro][1]

Forms

errō (present infinitive errāre, perfect active errāvī, supine errātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ers-āje-, a verb formed from a noun Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers-o/h₂- (“erring, error”).[2][1][3] De Vaan notes that the shape matches the root Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to flow”), so that “flowing to and fro” could have given “erring” already in PIE.[2] Nussbaum connects instead the root meaning “to arrive”.[2] Cognate with Old Armenian եռամ (eṙam, “to boil; be restless”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌴𐌹𐍃 (airzeis, “mistaken”) and Old High German irren (“to be mistaken”).[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first attestation is Livius Andronicus, and the OLD's earliest citation, from Plautus, is of wandering about.[2][3] Köbler dates Livius Andronicus 280/260 to before 200 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to wander, roam, of people and animals, as in Plautus, and in Ovid of things drifting or flitting.[3] In Cicero it meant to waver, be uncertain, and in Plautus to go astray, to be mistaken, and to stray from virtue, often to play down the offence.[3] Döderlein explains errāre as involuntary wandering by one who does not know the way, while vagārī and pālārī are wilful.[6]

Medieval Latin used it of wandering, getting lost and circling.[7] It survives in Italian errare, French errer and Spanish and Portuguese errar, and through Old French it gave English err about 1300.[1][8]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of wandering and of being mistaken.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of wavering.[3][5]
  • c. 1300 – English err is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To wander, roam; to drift.[3]
  2. To waver, be uncertain.[3]
  3. To go astray.[3]
  4. To be mistaken, err; to do wrong.[3]

Word family

  • errōneus
  • aberrō
  • aderrō
  • circumerrō
  • coerrō
  • deerrō
  • errābundus
  • errantia
  • erratilis
  • errātiō
  • errātor
  • errātum
  • errāticus
  • error
  • English err
  • English error
  • English erratic

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from vagārī and pālārī.[6] A homograph errō, errōnis means a vagabond, a truant slave.[3][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press