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. aírzjan 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 be passed the flood of Ganges.
1549–62. Sternhold & H., Ps. cvii. 40. And likewise caused them to erre Within the wildernesse.
1601. Jonson, Poetaster, I. i. In no labyrinth can I safelier err, Than when [etc.].
1697. Dryden, Æneid, V. 344/579 (J.). A Storm of Strokes, well meant, with fury flies,
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, i. 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. Ibid. (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 judgment 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 erre.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 342. Petre suffride mekeli þat 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, iv. § 2. 243 (J.). Possibly the Man may erre 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 on mental philosophy have erred in considering the mind too abstractedly.
† b. quasi-trans. with cognate object.
1656. Artif. Handsom., 173. 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.
1685. Waller, Poems, 252 (J.).
| The Muse’s friends unto himself severe, | |
| 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. ii. I. ii. (1638), 50. He [the lord of lyes] tempts by covetousnesse, drunkennesse, pleasure, pride, &c. erres, dejects, saves, kils, protects, and rides 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. Ibid. (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.
