error

[er-er] /ˈɛr ər/
noun
1.
a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech:
His speech contained several factual errors.
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.
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.
Compare freak1 (def 5), variety (def 8).
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English errour < Latin errōr- (stem of error), equivalent to err- err + -or -or1
Related forms
errorless, adjective
errorlessly, adverb
Synonyms
1. blunder, slip, oversight. See mistake. 4. fault, transgression, trespass, misdeed.
Examples from the web for error
  • Besides the horrific grammar error in the first line, the question is technically wrong.
  • Throughout the weekend, scientists were energetically challenging the error and trying to get their own information out.
  • The company did not calculate a margin of error for its findings.
  • Fingerprinting experts have long claimed that their error rate in matching prints is zero-but without any supporting evidence.
  • The drivers can then be added one at a time to determine which one causes the error.
  • Cloning eliminates the trial and error inherent in regular breeding.
  • Ng says will often pick up on a student's specific error.
  • But any proprietor who wants to undo this error has a problem.
  • Throw in the weirdo ballots with lizard people, stray marks and indecipherable dots, and the error rate grows even more.
  • When a computer fails at a task, it spouts an error message.
British Dictionary definitions for error

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
Derived Forms
error-free, adjective
Word Origin
C13: from Latin, from errāre to err
Word Origin and History for error
n.

also, through 18c., errour, c.1300, from Old French error "mistake, flaw, defect, heresy," from Latin errorem (nominative error) "a wandering, straying, mistake," from errare "to wander" (see err).

Words for "error" in most Indo-European languages originally meant "wander, go astray" (but cf. Irish dearmad "error," from dermat "a forgetting").

error in Medicine

error er·ror (ěr'ər)
n.

  1. A defect or insufficiency in structure or function.

  2. An act, an assertion, or a decision, especially one made in testing a hypothesis, that unintentionally deviates from what is correct, right, or true.

error in Technology


1. A discrepancy between a computed, observed, or measured value or condition and the true, specified, or theoretically correct value or condition.
2. A mental mistake made by a programmer that may result in a program fault.
3. (verb) What a program does when it stops as result of a programming error.
(2000-03-28)

Idioms and Phrases with error

error

see: