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

She is seeking to head off a challenge from rival Lucy Powell, who has attacked "unforced errors" on welfare since being sacked from the cabinet this month.

From BBC

The error would be for Americans to be surprised when the boulder rolls back down – shocked that there was no progress and that everyone has to start over again.

From Salon

Labour deputy leadership contender Lucy Powell, who was fired by Sir Keir Starmer in his cabinet reshuffle, has criticised "unforced errors" by the government over welfare.

From BBC

The ambulance service worker was asked why she had not done that, to which she responded: "I don't know why I didn't... it was an error of misunderstanding."

From BBC

She added: "The government now needs to step up, launch an investigation and ensure that the ONS is given access to the data it needs so that it can never make this error again."

From BBC

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