err
to make a mistake
TRANSLATION
err = irren, sich täuschen (woerterbuch.info) --- GOOGLE INDEX err: approximately 25,000,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
(Professional cyclist) Floyd Landis' experts now claim the French laboratory ERRED in its analysis, incorrectly labelled samples and ignored the World Anti-Doping Agency testing standards among numerous other mistakes.
(adapted from Time magazine)
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To ERR is human, to forgive, divine.
- Alexander Pope, 18th century English poet
(adapted from Time magazine)
---
To ERR is human, to forgive, divine.
- Alexander Pope, 18th century English poet
Did you
know?
err
verb
- to make a mistake or do something wrong
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
Err (circa 1300), is from the Old French errer and the Latin errare, meaning to wander, go astray or be in error.
Alexander Pope's "to err is human" is one of the most quoted phrases of the last few centuries. It has prompted several humorous variations:
- to err is human, to forgive, infrequent (Franklin P. Adams)
- to err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer (The 1978 Farmers Almanac)
- to err is human, to blame it on someone else is politics (Hubert Humphrey)
- to err is human, but it feels divine (Mae West)
Usage note. Err is frequently used in the context of "erring on the side of something", meaning to choose an action that might be too extreme. For instance, to err on the side of caution is to be overly cautious. Or to err on the low or high side means to respectively make a highly conservative or liberal estimate.
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SYNONYMS
be inaccurate, be incorrect, be mistaken, blow it, blunder, boggle, bollix, deviate, fall, flub, foul up, go astray, go wrong, goof, goof up, gum up, hash up, lapse, louse up, make mistake, mess up, misapprehend, misbehave, miscalculate, misjudge, mistake, muff, offend, screw up, sin, slip up, snafu, snarl up, stray, stumble, transgress, trespass, trip, wander
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
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ANTONYMS
be right, be correct
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"You can err in this job, provided you admit it and don’t make the same mistake again."
verb
- to make a mistake or do something wrong
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Err (circa 1300), is from the Old French errer and the Latin errare, meaning to wander, go astray or be in error.
Alexander Pope's "to err is human" is one of the most quoted phrases of the last few centuries. It has prompted several humorous variations:
- to err is human, to forgive, infrequent (Franklin P. Adams)
- to err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer (The 1978 Farmers Almanac)
- to err is human, to blame it on someone else is politics (Hubert Humphrey)
- to err is human, but it feels divine (Mae West)
Usage note. Err is frequently used in the context of "erring on the side of something", meaning to choose an action that might be too extreme. For instance, to err on the side of caution is to be overly cautious. Or to err on the low or high side means to respectively make a highly conservative or liberal estimate.
---
SYNONYMS
be inaccurate, be incorrect, be mistaken, blow it, blunder, boggle, bollix, deviate, fall, flub, foul up, go astray, go wrong, goof, goof up, gum up, hash up, lapse, louse up, make mistake, mess up, misapprehend, misbehave, miscalculate, misjudge, mistake, muff, offend, screw up, sin, slip up, snafu, snarl up, stray, stumble, transgress, trespass, trip, wander
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
ANTONYMS
be right, be correct
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"You can err in this job, provided you admit it and don’t make the same mistake again."
