errand

[ er-uhnd ]

noun

1. a short and quick trip to accomplish a specific purpose, as to buy something, deliver a package, or convey a message, often for someone else.

   Synonyms: chore, assignment, task, mission

2. the purpose of such a trip:

   He finished his errands.

   Synonyms: chore, assignment, task, mission

3. a special mission or function entrusted to a messenger; commission.

errand

/ ˈɛrənd /

noun

1. a short trip undertaken to perform a necessary task or commission (esp in the phrase run errands )
2. the purpose or object of such a trip

Word History and Origins

Origin of errand¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English erande, Old English ærende; cognate with Old High German āruntī; compare Old English ār “messenger,” Gothic airus; not related to err ( def ), errant ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of errand¹

Old English ǣrende; related to ār messenger, Old Norse erendi message, Old High German ārunti, Swedish ärende

Idioms and Phrases

see fool's errand ; run an errand .

Example Sentences

If you’ve just arrived home after a walk, a work shift, or running errands, wash your hands with soap and water before you touch your mask.

From Popular-Science

Other than running errands, they rarely left the house and never ate inside a restaurant during the pandemic.

From Washington Post

They last for 30 to 40 minutes, so they’re the perfect companion for a brisk morning walk or a quick errand.

From Popular-Science

Then there’s this added thing of, when I do have energy, I can’t go out and run my errands.

From Vox

Once Alvarez returns from that errand, her mother often has to head out herself, so the 17-year-old settles down to take care of the children for the rest of the afternoon.

From Washington Post

He demonstrated that he had the makings of a future Marine after his mother sent him on a last minute errand to a nearby deli.

From The Daily Beast

In the Bible angels are mostly errand boys, the word itself means "messenger."

From The Daily Beast

At the start of the game he is been sent to the fantastic city of Columbia on an errand: to find a girl and have his debt cleaned.

From The Daily Beast

It's a fool's errand when the general electorate is trending in favor of more government.

From The Daily Beast

It is, increasingly, the received wisdom in the West that nation building is a fool's errand.

From The Daily Beast

The remarkable thing was that all the hurrying people she met seemed also each of them to be on a secret and mystic errand.

From Project Gutenberg

A simple errand and promenade,--and yet she felt herself to be steeped in the romance of an adventure!

From Project Gutenberg

One evening, rather more than a week after the marriage, Hedges had been on an errand to Calne, and was hastening home.

From Project Gutenberg

A few words explained his errand; but the brave Englishman would hardly hear it to the end.

From Project Gutenberg

Except for their sad errand, both Felipe and Aunt Ri would have experienced a keen delight in this ascent.

From Project Gutenberg