a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech: His speech contained several factual errors.
belief in something untrue; the holding of mistaken opinions.
the condition of believing what is not true: in error about the date.
a moral offense; wrongdoing; sin.
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.
Mathematics. the difference between the observed or approximately determined value and the true value of a quantity.
Law.
a mistake in a matter of fact or law in a case tried in a court of record.
writ of error.
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 of error
1250–1300; Middle English errour, from Latin errōr- (stem of error), equivalent to err-err + -or-or1
SYNONYMS FOR error
1 blunder, slip, oversight.
4 fault, transgression, trespass, misdeed.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR error ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for error
1. See mistake.
OTHER WORDS FROM error
er·ror·less,adjectiveer·ror·less·ly,adverb
Words nearby error
Er Rif, erring, Errol, erron., erroneous, error, error analysis, error coin, error correction, error message, error of closure
The misidentification has since been corrected, and The Daily Beast regrets the error.
Choking Back Tears, Thousands of Cops Honor Fallen Officer Ramos|Michael Daly|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Because of an error, there were more of the blue bottles than I could use in the years left me.
A Million Ways to Die in Prison|Daniel Genis|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He later apologized for the error, and ceded control of his Twitter handle to his company, Katalyst Media (although not for long).
Ashton Kutcher’s History of Idiocy: Ubergate, Brownface, Joe Paterno, and More|Marlow Stern|November 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Editor's Note: This story has been corrected, two quotes that appeared due to an editor's error have been removed.
Commando Colonel Accused of Exposing his Lover to HIV|Jacob Siegel|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Through trial and error he began crafting different dishes—chicken, sautéed vegetables, and, of course, desserts.
Meet the Julia Child of Weed|Justin Jones|November 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But if they do not coincide, then the amount of error may be found by the micrometer wheel g, Fig. 1353.
Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II|Joshua Rose
But this error of theirs should be laid at the door of the rabbins from whom they received it.
Commentary on Genesis, Vol. II|Martin Luther
Eleanor realized her error and had common sense enough not to endeavor to explain it away.
Polly's Business Venture|Lillian Elizabeth Roy
The Unionists leaders, however, whom we can absolutely trust, have decided that abstention from debate would be an error.
A Leap in the Dark|A.V. Dicey
He was in error concerning the hot desire that burned in her eyes to know about Eschenbach.
The Goose Man|Jacob Wassermann
British Dictionary definitions for error
error
/ (ˈɛrə) /
noun
a mistake or inaccuracy, as in action or speecha typing error
an incorrect belief or wrong judgment
the condition of deviating from accuracy or correctness, as in belief, action, or speechhe was in error about the train times
deviation from a moral standard; wrongdoinghe saw the error of his ways
mathsstatisticsa measure of the difference between some quantity and an approximation to or estimate of it, often expressed as a percentagean error of 5%