errant
[ er-uh nt ]
/ ˈɛr ənt /
adjective
deviating from the regular or proper course; erring; straying.
journeying or traveling, as a medieval knight in quest of adventure; roving adventurously.
moving in an aimless or lightly changing manner: an errant breeze.
Nearby words
erpf, err, errancy, errand, errand boy, errantly, errantly, errantry, errare humanum est, errata, erratic
Origin of errant
1300–50; Middle English erraunt < Middle French, Old French errant, present participle of errer, edrer to travel < Vulgar Latin *iterāre to journey, for Late Latin itinerārī, derivative of iter, stem itiner- journey (see itinerary); confused with Middle French errant, present participle of errer to err
Related forms
Can be confusedarrant errant
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for errantly
errant
/ (ˈɛrənt) /
adjective (often postpositive)
archaic, or literary wandering in search of adventure
erring or straying from the right course or accepted standards
Derived Formserrantly, adverb
Word Origin for errant
C14: from Old French: journeying, from Vulgar Latin iterāre (unattested), from Latin iter journey; influenced by Latin errāre to err
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for errantly
errant
mid-14c., "travelling, roving," from Anglo-French erraunt, from two Old French words that were confused even before they reached English: 1. Old French errant, present participle of errer "to travel or wander," from Late Latin iterare, from Latin iter "journey, way," from root of ire "to go" (see ion); 2. Old French errant, past participle of errer (see err). The senses fused in English 14c., but much of the sense of the latter since has gone with arrant.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper