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

A modest vacancy rate is what allows you to pull up Zillow or Craigslist and not get a “no results found” error.

From Los Angeles Times

“Lasting improvements won’t come from pointing to a single error — they’ll come from addressing the broader processes and communication gaps that the report identified,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

"There is less room for error and you don't want to say anything that could be misconstrued and that can be hard to think about constantly," she says.

From BBC

His defence team were seeking to throw the case out, citing a technical error in the way the charge was brought against Mr Ó hAnnaidh.

From BBC

If there are issues with the permit, the NPS is required to give the applicant 24-hour notice to fix the error before taking action.

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