error

[ er-er ]

noun

1. a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech:

   His speech contained several factual errors.

   Synonyms: oversight, slip, blunder

2. belief in something untrue; the holding of mistaken opinions.
3. the condition of believing what is not true:

   in error about the date.

4. a moral offense; wrongdoing; sin.

   Synonyms: misdeed, trespass, transgression, fault

5. Baseball. a misplay that enables a base runner to reach base safely or advance a base, or a batter to have a turn at bat prolonged, as the dropping of a ball batted in the air, the fumbling of a batted or thrown ball, or the throwing of a wild ball, but not including a passed ball or wild pitch.
6. Mathematics. the difference between the observed or approximately determined value and the true value of a quantity.
7. Law.
   1. a mistake in a matter of fact or law in a case tried in a court of record.
   2. writ of error.
8. Philately. a stamp distinguished by an error or errors in design, engraving, selection of inks, or setting up of the printing apparatus. Compare freak ¹( def 5 ), variety ( def 7 ).

error

/ ˈɛrə /

noun

1. a mistake or inaccuracy, as in action or speech

   a typing error

2. an incorrect belief or wrong judgment
3. the condition of deviating from accuracy or correctness, as in belief, action, or speech

   he was in error about the train times

4. deviation from a moral standard; wrongdoing

   he saw the error of his ways

5. maths statistics a measure of the difference between some quantity and an approximation to or estimate of it, often expressed as a percentage

   an error of 5%

6. statistics See type I error type II error

Derived Forms

• ˌerror-ˈfree, adjective

Other Words From

• error·less adjective
• error·less·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of error¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English errour, from Latin errōr-, stem of error, equivalent to err + -or ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of error¹

C13: from Latin, from errāre to err

Idioms and Phrases

see comedy of errors ; trial and error .

Synonym Study

See mistake.

Example Sentences

Everyone out there who says, “Charlie Hebdo provoked,” is making the same fundamental error.

From The Daily Beast

There were also crashes not due to either mechanical or human error but to a lack of warning of dangerous conditions.

From The Daily Beast

But as everyone knows, he went on to say—not once but many times—that that was the greatest error of his career by far.

From The Daily Beast

The misidentification has since been corrected, and The Daily Beast regrets the error.

From The Daily Beast

But millions of rules result in perpetual error, and, as a terminal side effect, make leadership and accomplishment illegal.

From The Daily Beast

It is a very common error to consider these deposits as evidence of excessive excretion.

From Project Gutenberg

My mother now tells me that she knew of this mistake, an error of the New York paper in copying the item from a Southern journal.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a fatal error, for though the Spanish people might despise their King, they were intensely proud of their nationality.

From Project Gutenberg

It was an error not to separate borrowing entirely from monetary issues.

From Project Gutenberg

Consequently he was able to turn in a clear essay upon the subject, which, upon examination, the king found to be free from error.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• blunder
• failure
• fault
• flaw
• glitch
• inaccuracy
• lapse
• miscalculation
• miscue
• misdeed
• mismanagement
• misstep
• misunderstanding
• offense
• omission
• sin
• transgression
• wrongdoing