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Origin and history of err

err(v.)

c. 1300, from Old French errer "go astray, lose one's way; make a mistake; transgress," from Latin errare "wander, go astray," figuratively "be in error," from PIE root *ers- (1) "be in motion, wander around" (source also of Sanskrit arsati "flows;" Old English ierre "angry; straying;" Old Frisian ire "angry;" Old High German irri "angry," irron "astray;" Gothic airziþa "error; deception;" the Germanic words reflecting the notion of anger as a "straying" from normal composure). Related: Erred; erring.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to err

aberrant(adj.)

"wandering from the usual course," 1798, originally in natural history, "differing somewhat from a group in which it is placed," from Latin aberrantem (nominative aberrans), present participle of aberrare "to wander away, go astray," literally and figuratively, from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + errare "to wander, stray, roam, rove" (see err). Related: Aberrance; aberrancy (1660s). The verb aberrate is rare.

aberration(n.)

1590s, "a wandering, act of straying," from Latin aberrationem (nominative aberratio) "a wandering," noun of action from past-participle stem of aberrare "to wander out of the way, lose the way, go astray," literally and figuratively, from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + errare "to wander, stray, roam, rove" (see err). Meaning "deviation from the normal type" is attested by 1735.

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Trends of err

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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errant
mid-14c., "traveling, 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
erratic
late 14c., "wandering, moving," from Old French erratique "wandering, vagrant" (13c.) and directly from Latin erraticus "wandering, straying, roving," from erratum "an error, mistake, fault," past participle of errare "to wander; to err" (see err). Sense of "irregular, eccentric"
error
also, through 18c., errour; c. 1300, "a deviation from truth made through ignorance or inadvertence, a mistake," also "offense against morality or justice; transgression, wrong-doing, sin;" from Old French error "mistake, flaw, defect, heresy," from Latin errorem (nominative erro
mistake
Meaning "err in advice, opinion, or judgment" is from 1580s. Related: Mistook; mistaking....
silver lining
I did not err, there does a sable cloud, Turn out her silver lining on the night And casts a gleam over this tufted grove...
thou
The plural at first was used in addressing superior individuals, later also (to err on the side of propriety) strangers,...
fail
as "fail in expectation or performance," from Old French falir "be lacking, miss, not succeed; run out, come to an end; err...
go
Old English gan "to advance, walk; depart, go away; happen, take place; conquer; observe, practice, exercise," from West Germanic *gaian (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian gan, Middle Dutch gaen, Dutch gaan, Old High German gan, German gehen), from PIE root *ghē- "to release,
move
late 13c., meven, in various senses (see below), from Anglo-French mover, Old French movoir "to move, get moving, set out; set in motion; introduce" (Modern French mouvoir), from Latin movere "move, set in motion; remove; disturb" (past participle motus, frequentative motare), fr
stray
c. 1300, straien, of animals, "wander away from an enclosure or herd," also figurative, of persons, "wander from the path of justice or rectitude," a shortening of Old French estraier "wander about, roam, drift, run loose," said of animals, especially a horse without a master, al

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