▪ I. err, v.1
(ɜː(r))
Forms: 4–7 erre, (4 erry, 7 arre), 4– err.
[ME. erre, a. Fr. erre-r, Pr. and Sp. errar, It. errare, L. errāre:—prehistoric *ersāre, cogn. with Goth. a{iacu}rzjan trans. to lead astray, OHG. irrôn trans. and intr. (Ger. irren).]
† 1. intr. To ramble, roam, stray, wander. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 274 O wery ghost, that errest to and fro. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxxvii. 15 A man fonde hym in the feelde errynge. 1481 Caxton Myrr. iii. xv. 169 He erred so ferre by strange londes that he passed the flood of Ganges. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. cvii. 40 And like⁓wise caused them to erre Within the wildernesse. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster i. i, In no labyrinth can I safelier err, Than when, etc. 1697 Dryden Virgil (J.), A storm of strokes..errs about their temples, ears, and eyes. |
2. To go astray; to stray from (one's path or line of direction). Chiefly fig. and now arch.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9517 Lewede men Þat erre ful moche oute of the weye. c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 17 Whoso myghte by þe grace of Godd go þis way he sulde noghte erre. 1382 Wyclif Isa. liii. 6 Alle wee as shep erreden. c 1440 Gesta Rom. 330 (Add. MS.) Vayn, waveryng, and erryng fro the faithe. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Gen. Conf., We haue erred and strayed from thy wayes, lyke loste shepe. 1678 R. Barclay Apol. Quakers 15 He that Errs in the Entrance, is not so easily reduced again into the Right Way. 1812 Byron Juan ii. xciv, Probably it [a bird] might have err'd Upon its course. 1832 J. C. Hare in Philol. Museum I. 645 Indeed in this, as in every other practical question, there are two extremes, into which one may err. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxiii, Nothing is that errs from law. |
b. To fail, miss; also, to err from (a mark or proposed end): to miss, fail to strike. rare.
| c 1430 Lydg. Bochas ii. xxiii. (1554) 60 a, Kynd in her forge list nothing to erre. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 19 Erryth not from the end. 1703 Pope Thebais 772 On me, on me, let all thy fury fall, Nor err from me, since I deserve it all. 1732 ― Ess. Man i. 142 But errs not Nature from this gracious end, From burning suns when livid deaths descend. 1801 Southey Thalaba i. xlii, The Arrows..err not from their aim. |
c. ? quasi-trans. (But perh. way is the object of leading: ‘I shall not err if thou lead the way’.)
| 1667 Milton P.L. x. 266, I shall not lag behinde, nor erre The way, thou leading. |
3. To go wrong in judgement or opinion: to make mistakes, blunder. Of a formula, statement, etc.: To be incorrect.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 473 Ȝif þou telle hem [sc. dremys] þan mayst þou errre. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 342 Petre suffride mekeli at Poul snybbide him whanne he erride. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 9 b, Whan thy frende erreth or mystaketh him agenst the. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 43 Quhasaever doutis or erris in the faith. 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. vii. l, By dreames, by oracles that never arres. 1650 Jer. Taylor Holy Living (J.), Possibly the man may err in his judgement of circumstances. 1784 Cowper Task i. 662 Fancy..Perhaps errs little, when she paints thee thus. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 478, Both the above formulæ err in this particular. 1856 Sir B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. I. ii. 42 It seems to me that the best writers..have erred in considering the mind too abstractedly. |
† b. quasi-trans. with cognate object.
| 1656 Handsom. Artif., Those that are so subject to erre customary errors in greater matters. 1659 Bp. Gauden Tears Ch. 281 In this it seems to have erred a Catholick errour. Ibid. 285 Not once erring so Catholick and great an errour. 1674 Hickman Quinquart. Hist. (ed. 2) 194 They erre as bad an errour as the Pelagians do. |
4. To go astray morally; to sin.
| c 1315 Shoreham 164 God wyste wel that man schold erry. a 1340 Hampole Psalter x. 8 He suffirs wrecched men to erre in thoght & word & dede. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 22 They erre greatly that hastely..say these holy houres. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 109 The perels of hem that offendyn and erryn. 1611 Bible 2 Chron. xxxiii. 9 So Manasseh made Iudah, and the inhabitants of Ierusalem to erre. 1645 Waller Poet. Wks. (J.), The Muses' friend..With silent pity looks on all that err. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. Prol., While Man's desires and aspirations stir He cannot choose but err. |
† b. trans. (nonce-use.) To make (a person) sin.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. iv. i. ii, The Lord of lies..tempts by covetuousness, drunkenness, pleasure, pride, etc., errs, dejects, saves, kills..some men. |
† 5. trans. To do (a thing) wrongly or sinfully; to make a mistake or commit a fault in. Chiefly pass. Obs.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter 497, I will amend þat i hafe errid. 1340 ― Pr. Consc. 5733 For ilka thyng þat erred es..Man..sal be ledde To þe dome. 1527 R. Thorne in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 257 In this little Card I think nothing be erred touching the situation of the lande. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 79 To redresse willingly and speedily what hath bin err'd. |
▪ II. † err, n. Obs.
In 6 erre.
[f. prec. vb.]
An error, fault; also, erroneous belief, heresy.
| 1509 Fisher Wks. i. 260 A londe without erre. c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 30/2 They haue a great erre for they saye, etc. |