English
error
Error comes from Latin error ‘wandering about’, and goes back to errō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEerrō‘to wander’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEerror‘wandering about’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400same form
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400errour
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1913error
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEerrō‘to wander’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEerror‘wandering about’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400same form
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400errour
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1913error
Earliest quotation: 1913, The Inland Printer:: “Am I in error in marking out the s…”
Equivalent to err + -or
Latin errō ‘wander, stray, err, mistake’
Old French errer ‘to wander, err, mistake’
Middle English erren
English err
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- ‘to flow’
through Latin errō ‘to wander, to err’
Today it means
noun The state, quality, or condition of being wrong.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin errō / error