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error (n.)

also, through 18c., errour; c. 1300, "a deviation from truth made through ignorance or inadvertence, a mistake," also "offense against morality or justice; transgression, wrong-doing, sin;" from Old French error "mistake, flaw, defect, heresy," from Latin errorem (nominative error) "a wandering, straying, a going astray; meandering; doubt, uncertainty;" also "a figurative going astray, mistake," from errare "to wander; to err" (see err). From early 14c. as "state of believing or practicing what is false or heretical; false opinion or belief, heresy." From late 14c. as "deviation from what is normal; abnormality, aberration." From 1726 as "difference between observed value and true value."

Words for "error" in most Indo-European languages originally meant "wander, go astray" (for example Greek plane in the New Testament, Old Norse villa, Lithuanian klaida, Sanskrit bhrama-), but Irish has dearmad "error," from dermat "a forgetting."

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Definitions of error from WordNet

error (n.)
a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention;
she was quick to point out my errors
Synonyms: mistake / fault
error (n.)
inadvertent incorrectness;
Synonyms: erroneousness
error (n.)
a misconception resulting from incorrect information;
Synonyms: erroneous belief
error (n.)
(baseball) a failure of a defensive player to make an out when normal play would have sufficed;
Synonyms: misplay
error (n.)
departure from what is ethically acceptable;
Synonyms: wrongdoing
error (n.)
(computer science) the occurrence of an incorrect result produced by a computer;
Synonyms: computer error
error (n.)
part of a statement that is not correct;
the book was full of errors
Synonyms: mistake
From wordnet.princeton.edu