err
intj1
Elongated form of er (“sound of hesitation”).
- Err... what did you just say?
err
verbUK /ɜː/ · US /ɛɚ/
Etymology From Middle English erren, from Old French errer (“to wander, err, mistake”), from Latin errō (“wander, stray, err, mistake”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to be angry, lose one's temper”). Cognate with Old English eorre, ierre (“anger, wrath, ire”), Old English iersian (“to be angry with, rage, irritate, provoke”), Old English ierre (“wandering, gone astray, confused”).
1
Formal To make a mistake.
- He erred in his calculations, and made many mistakes.
- Artificial tests, then, can hardly err on the side of supplying too many opportunities for one bird to see another perform the act which is the model.1910, James P. Porter, chapter 2, in Intelligence and Imitation in Birds; A Criterion of Imitation, page 7:
1 more example
- Gorbachev’s phrase, “fear to err,” is strikingly reminiscent of President Roosevelt’s phrase, “nothing to fear but fear itself.”1989, L[eften] S[tavros] Stavrianos, Lifelines from Our Past: A New World History, New York: Pantheon Books, →ISBN, page 211:
2
To sin.
- To err is human, to forgive, divine.
3
Archaic to stray.
- Derived terms
- errable, erroneous, err on the side of, err on the side of caution, error, inerrable, to err is human