error Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
    fault; mistake.
    • he made a bad mistake
    • she was quick to point out my errors
    • I could understand his English in spite of his grammatical faults
  2. noun inadvertent incorrectness
    erroneousness.
  3. noun a misconception resulting from incorrect information
    erroneous belief.
  4. noun (baseball) a failure of a defensive player to make an out when normal play would have sufficed
    misplay.
  5. noun departure from what is ethically acceptable
    wrongdoing.
  6. noun (computer science) the occurrence of an incorrect result produced by a computer
    computer error.
  7. noun part of a statement that is not correct
    mistake.
    • the book was full of errors

WordNet

Er"ror noun
Etymology
OF. error, errur, F. erreur, L. error, fr. errare to err. See Err.
Definitions
  1. A wandering; a roving or irregular course. Obs.
    The rest of his journey, his error by sea. B. Jonson.
  2. A wandering or deviation from the right course or standard; irregularity; mistake; inaccuracy; something made wrong or left wrong; as, an error in writing or in printing; a clerical error.
  3. A departing or deviation from the truth; falsity; false notion; wrong opinion; mistake; misapprehension.
    H judgment was often in error, though his candor remained unimpaired. Bancroft.
  4. A moral offense; violation of duty; a sin or transgression; iniquity; fault. Ps. xix. 12.
  5. (Math.) The difference between the approximate result and the true result; -- used particularly in the rule of double position.
  6. (Mensuration) (a) The difference between an observed value and the true value of a quantity. (b) The difference between the observed value of a quantity and that which is taken or computed to be the true value; -- sometimes called residual error.
  7. (Law.) A mistake in the proceedings of a court of record in matters of law or of fact.
  8. (Baseball) A fault of a player of the side in the field which results in failure to put out a player on the other side, or gives him an unearned base. Bouvier. Burrill. Syn. -- Mistake; fault; blunder; failure; fallacy; delusion; hallucination; sin. See Blunder.

Webster 1913