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.

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

Other Word Forms

• errorless adjective
• errorlessly adverb
• error-free adjective

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

For many years, people linked Pickford's on-pitch personality to his performances - in his first few seasons at Everton it felt like we saw as many errors from him as there were eruptions.

From BBC

"They started the first couple of games scoring lots of goals and then just errors have been their issue," former Leeds striker Lucy Ward said on Disney+.

From BBC

Last month, the terrorism case against Mr Ó hAnnaidh was dismissed following a technical error in the way the charge against him was brought.

From BBC

But she failed to convert two break points in the next game and a series of sluggish unforced errors then helped Li break for a 2-1 lead.

From BBC

His error was in the pitcher he chose to replace him.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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